Gardening
Gardening improves the outside appearance of your living space, cultivates healthy living habits through growing and eating your own produce, and has positive benefits from the exercise you get while planting and maintaining your own garden. The following guide provides the latest tools and resources you need to learn about gardening to fit your lifestyle. Adults, seniors, and children can find gardening a healthy and exciting hobby to pursue.
Expand All Guide SectionsGardening Resources
If you're looking for some sites chock-full of information about all sorts of gardening, the online homes of some offline gardening resources, or even some reference tools to help you plan and plant, you've come to the right place.
If you don't feel comfortable shopping online, most gardening suppliers will mail a catalog to your home. Take a look at the Web site of your favorite supplier to see if this option is available to you.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Many online garden communities and magazines have a list of garden retailers or vendors from which you can order products. They often list products by subject category or location.
- Some sites have a "zone finder" or "region locater" that can tell you what plants are best suited to your region. Using plants suited to the climate and soil where you live is important to planning a successful garden.
- Gardening may be beneficial to your health. Take a look at "Go for Green" from the Evergreen Foundation.
- For another health-based article, visit and "Healthy Gardening" from the University of Vermont Extension for more information.
- Most garden sites are geared toward adults and seniors. For kid-friendly gardening information, check out the "Gardening for Kids" section of this guide.
- If you are looking to do some landscaping as opposed to general gardening, see our findingDulcinea Landscaping Web Guide.
Dulcinea's Picks
For all gardeners ...
Learn2Grow
is a well-organized site that makes it easy to get started on your gardening project. When you register with the site for free, you gain access to an online garden journal where you can record plant details, bookmark articles of interest, and post photos of your garden. There are also low-cost garden courses, easy-to-follow projects, garden guides, and inspirational stories about gardening.
BackyardGardener
sells seeds, gardening products, and decorative garden items but the site also offers lots of helpful information in their "Articles" section. Find gardening tips organized by month, and garden articles arranged in categories like "Cooking and Vegetable Gardening" and "Water Gardening."
Flower Gardening Made Easy
is written by gardening writer and photographer Yvonne Cunnington. The site covers every aspect of flower gardening imaginable with sections on wildflowers, shade gardening, water gardens, roses, where to order plants online, flowering bulbs, and much more.
For reference information, planning, and garden tools ...
The National Gardening Association
site is a must-see for every gardener. It features regional reports, garden news, a zone finder, and calculators to help you determine material quantities for landscaping. There are entire sections devoted to "Urban Gardening" and "Edible Landscaping" complete with Q&As and how-to articles.
WebGarden
is a multimedia resource center for gardening information hosted by The Ohio State University's page. It offers "PlantFacts," a program that is a combination of how-to videos, photos, information, and a powerful search engine. "Pocket Gardener" is a collection of Web pages designed for Pocket PC and Palm PDA users. The site offers timely garden tips for new and experienced gardeners alike.
Home Gardening
offers "Flower Growing Guides" with over 269 varieties of flowers and "Vegetable Growing Guides" with over 58 varieties of vegetables. Detailed information on planting and growing flowers and vegetables is provided, along with fact sheets and articles.
Better Homes and Gardens
magazine is a perennial favorite with gardeners, and the Web site is no exception. Their "Garden Plans" feature boasts a long list of design ideas for different types of gardens, from a small front yard to a family backyard, and everything in between. Register for free to access the complete plans which include a large, color illustration of the garden, a layout diagram, a list of suggested plants and alternatives, and complete installation instructions.
For online versions of offline garden media ...
The Victory Garden
PBS show has this site for avid gardeners. The "Ask" tab at the top of the homepage is where you can get answers to your tough gardening questions. The "Grow" tab has a variety of features like "Kip's Maintenance Blog" for monthly advice and poems, and "Primers & Projects" for basic gardening techniques and projects featured on the show. For inspiration, visit the "Explore" tab to see the visually stunning gardens that the show has toured.
Horticulture
magazine's Web site has articles written by garden experts that are complemented by a "Garden Center Directory", blogs, an online community composed of several forum topics, and much more.
Sunset
magazine has an excellent online gardening section with articles about small gardens, edible plants, outdoor garden design, and more. The "Community" tab features a very active forum on topics like gardening, outdoor style, and "Show off your garden," an area where you can post photos of your garden projects.
Vegetable and Herb Gardens
Want to avoid a few trips to the supermarket? Consider planting a few herbs and veggies of your own. To help you make sure that, come dinnertime, your parsley or peas are ready to eat, we've put together some sites to help you start a vegetable or herb garden.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Herbs are great garden plants as you can use many of them in cooking. Don't have an outside garden? That's okay—many herbs will do well grown indoors in pots.
- Heirloom vegetables and fruits are older varieties that have been around and weathered the test of time. Often they are no longer grown because other varieties come along to replace them. Sometimes, after many years, they are cultivated again and reintroduced by growers due to their excellent taste or use.
Dulcinea's Picks
To grow an herb garden ...
Herb Gardening
is presented by the University of Illinois Extension, and lists common herbs along with the conditions in which to plant them. Most of the herbs listed come with photos and links to more details on how to grow them. The site also offers tips on how to preserve herbs through drying and freezing. This is a good site for the beginner who wants basic information on the art of herb gardening.
Growing Herbs
in the Home Garden, a site created by the West Virginia University Extension Service, provides articles on herbs for beginners, herbs to grow indoors, how to cultivate herbs outdoors, drying herbs, and harvesting techniques and uses.
To grow a vegetable garden ...
Veggie Garden Info
is a visually appealing and informative site with photos and content in blog format on many different types of vegetables. Scroll through the categories on the right to find topics like companion planting, composting, salad crops, vegetable gardens, watering tips, and more.
The Heirloom Vegetable Gardener's Assistant
defines what heirloom vegetables are and provides a list of the 10 easiest heirloom vegetables to grow in your garden. Looking for heirloom seeds? Seed vendors are listed by state and seed exchange organizations across the country are also included. The site contains a list of public gardens that grow heirloom plants with contact information and links to their Web sites.
Home Gardening
is hosted by Cornell University, and offers a "Vegetable Growing Guide" with over 58 varieties of vegetables. Detailed information on planting and growing vegetables is provided, along with fact sheets and articles.
Small Gardens
Just because you don't have space for an expansive garden doesn't mean that you can't enjoy a few plants or some freshly grown herbs. Take the advice of the following sites to help you discover how you can fit a lot of green into a small garden spot.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Many plants are suited to container gardens and small spaces. For example, herbs are excellent plants for container gardening and are easy to maintain.
Dulcinea's Picks
For information about container gardening ...
Container Gardening
is a page on the Colorado State University/Denver County Cooperative Extension site. Information on general container gardening, water container gardens, and growing lavender, roses, and tomatoes in containers, is thoroughly presented with photos, illustrations, and step-by-step articles.
The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
of NC State University has a page on "Container Vegetable Gardening" that discusses the different types of containers needed for specific plants as well as the soil, fertilization, and water requirements. This page is a great introduction for those who want to grow vegetables in a limited space.
Urban Gardening Help
is a must for those with limited space who need help planning a garden. It covers urban gardening trends, container gardening, indoor gardening, hydroponics, and community gardening. You'll find design ideas, pest control tips, and rainwater collection techniques.
Environmentally Friendly Gardening
Planting a garden is a great way to provide more fresh oxygen for all the breathing creatures on earth, but there are some techniques you can use to nurture Mother Earth even more. We've put together a few sites to help you help the earth.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Many of the general gardening sites have tips (or entire sections) to help you conserve resources when gardening. If you are looking for more information about living a "green friendly" life, see our findingDulcinea Green Living Web Guide.
Dulcinea's Picks
For information about organic gardening ...
Organic Gardening
is the online version of the magazine by the same name. It offers great information about methods of organic gardening with fruits, vegetables, flowers, and plants. The Web site has articles with practical step-by-step solutions to common problems and walk-throughs for various gardening techniques.
To help you save water ...
Creating a Water-Wise Landscape
is hosted by Virginia Cooperative Extension of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The site introduces water-wise landscaping techniques and shows you how to prepare the soil, select the right plants, and use mulch correctly. You'll also learn the best watering methods for conserving this precious resource.
Gardening for Kids
Gardening is an activity the whole family can enjoy. Getting your kids out of the house and into the garden can be a great way to teach them about plants, bugs, and even where their vegetables come from. If you're looking for some creative ways to help your children help you in the garden (or to start their own garden), take a look at the following sites.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Look for gardening information that is user friendly for kids. Projects geared toward your child's age and ability level are key. Does the site have information about different types of gardening explained in a fun and interesting way?
Dulcinea's Picks
Aggie Horticulture Just for Kids
is part of the Texas A&M University Horticulture Web site. It has many interesting features geared to kids and their parents and teachers. The "kinderGarden" section offers detailed projects for children to do at home, an art gallery of garden drawings by kids, and tips for gardening with children. "Composting for Kids" has a slideshow illustrating how to make a compost bin. "Junior Master Gardener" is an information site for more advanced gardeners, while "Nutrition in the Garden" and "A Rainbow of Nutrition" explore the link between healthy eating and gardening.
Kids' Valley Garden
is a fun site that uses lots of graphics and simple language to explain some of the basics of gardening for children. It has easy-to-follow instructions on planting flowers, herbs, and vegetables. There's a section on keeping a garden journal and even a section on how to make flower arrangements. Plenty of practical, hands-on information for children makes this a valuable site.
Gardening With Kids
is another site full of helpful information about gardening. It has a section on how to prepare your kids for gardening and where to begin. Designs for different types of gardens are featured like a kid's party garden, a cook's garden, a bouquet garden, a nose garden (that's right, a nose garden), and winter gardens.
Global Garden
is an online gardening magazine from Australia for children. It has many easy gardening projects for kids including a "Make Things" section with instructions on making things for the garden, like a barometer or a garden pond. The "Grow Things" area provides detailed instructions on growing specific vegetables and flowers while the "Watch & Learn Things" area covers topics like "Good Bugs" and "Horror Movie Plants."
For teaching gardening ...
My First Garden
is part of the University of Illinois Extension Extension site, and is designed to appeal to children with lots of graphics and simple, explanatory text. It has a teacher's guide for those who want to teach gardening in school. "Show Me the Basics" covers digging and planting a garden and "Gardening FUNdamentals" includes a journal and how to plan a garden successfully.
KidsGardening.org
is part of the National Gardening Association Web site. It has excellent information for teachers and parents including a primer for parents about teaching gardening to kids, a pollinator curriculum that links allergies to pollen, and a gardening safety section.
The School Garden Wizard
was created for K-12 school kids by the Chicago Botanic Garden and the U.S. Botanic Garden. A great resource for teachers and parents, the site offers downloadable information on creating and learning in the garden, and has a helpful section on designing a garden on paper. There's also a resource guide on where to get funds for school projects and much more.
For Gardening Blogs and Forums
You'll find some of the best gardening advice from other gardeners just like yourself. Take a look at some of these online blogs, communities, and forums to see if someone has already asked (and answered) your question. Or see if you might be able to provide help or advice to another gardener, and post any questions or comments you may have to get responses from other members of the community.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Many online magazines and communities require you to register with your name and e-mail address if you want to post to their forums or blogs. If you don't want to register, don't worry—almost every forum allows you to read posts by others without registering.
Dulcinea's Picks
GardenWeb
is iVillage's garden and home community. The "Gardeners Connect" section is a great place to get in touch with other garden heads. You'll find blogs, forums, and "The Garden Exchange," a place where you can trade plants and seeds with other gardeners.
GardenStew
calls itself "your home and gardening community." With more than 22 forums, 110 blogs, members' photo galleries, a member map showing where in the world members are located, and a calendar of events, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in this very active community.
Community Horticulture
is a blog on the Cornell University Department of Horticulture Web site. It offers advice by experts on different topics such as West Nile Virus and cauliflower research. You can post without joining but you'll still have to include an e-mail address to verify your identity.
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