How do I start a garden?

Do you want a flower garden or a vegetable garden?

How much sun does the area receive? That will determine what you can plant. Do you know what zone you are in? Do you know your frost dates?

Flowers or veggies?

Start by tilling the plot and if it has not been used before, put in probably three or four large bags of potting soil and a couple of bags of sterilized manure (no smell). Till this in well so that it is well mixed in with the existing soil deep. Figure out what you want to plant and what will get eaten. Start small, you can always expand to plant more. If you plan on thigs like green beans or corn, remember that you need to plant enough so that you can have enough to feed your family within a couple of days. Things like cucumbers, squash, anything viney will take a lot of room unless you put something up tall enough for it to grab onto and grow up. Remember the space needs of larger plants like tomatoes. They are tall and can get a few feet wide. They need space to have good air flow. I do cheat on distances between plants due to size constraints with all that I plant and nowhere to expand. You can get by fudging a little, but putting plants really close will cause problems. I wouldn't plant the apricot tree very close to the garden and it will eventually shade it and the veggies will not get enough sun.

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