We’ve had requests to make tutorials for people who have do not have much gardening experience or who are just starting out, to show step-by-step how to garden. We know a lot of people are home right now and this is the perfect opportunity to get your hands dirty and start growing! Growing flowers will make you and the insects happy, and growing your own food is always a great idea and will make you feel very proud!
Step 1
Think about what you would like to plant & where you have room to plant it. You can plant in a container / pot, or directly into the ground. Some plants can stay in a container year-round, others you can start in a container and then move into a larger pot when they get big, or plant into the ground once they are ready.
If you have a spot in your garden or yard where you’d like to plant, it is important to see whether that spot is sunny or shady. It is also a good idea to see how wet or dry that spot normally is. One of the biggest factors in whether your plant will thrive is matching the type of plant to the correct environment it needs to grow. Some plants can only grow in full sun, some in shade, and some in a bit of both. Some plants need wetter soil and others need good drainage, which just means that water is able to drain out of the soil easily and the plant doesn’t sit in damp ground.
Step 2
Once you know what you want to plant (flower / vegetable / herb) and where you want to plant it, you can buy the seeds. Normally going to a garden center would be an option, or even sharing seeds with friends, but right now the best thing is to buy seeds online. We like the following online stores for seeds:
https://www.fruitionseeds.com/
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/
https://www.botanicalinterests.com/
https://www.vermontwildflowerfarm.com/
https://www.rareseeds.com/
One thing to consider when you purchase seeds is if the seeds can grow in the weather conditions where you live. It’s a good idea to figure out what plant hardiness zone you live in before you buy seeds. That tells you which plants can grow best in the area of the country that you live. An easy way to do this is to put your Zip code into the USDA website and they will automatically tell you what your zone is. Click here for the website.
Once you know your plant hardiness zone, you can use it to check that the seeds you are buying are good for your zone. On the seed packet or website description, it will say something like “Perennial in USDA Zones 5 and warmer” or “Perennial in Zones 3-9”. As the zone numbers go up, they get warmer. So if you are in Zone 6 and it says “Zones 5 and up,” that is ok for you. If it says “Zones 7 and up,” then you probably won’t be able to grow it successfully.
Step 3
Once you have your seeds and are ready to plant, look at the instructions on the packet for how your seeds germinate best. Germinate simply means that the seed begins to grow. But your job is to help the seed to start growing by giving it the environment it needs. Some different ways to get seeds started are: planting straight into the ground, or starting them in containers inside and then once the seedlings have germinated and are big enough, you can re-plant them outside.
Planting Directly Into The Ground:
TIP: If you’re watching the below videos on a desktop computer and you want to watch full screen, click the icon with the 4 arrows on the bottom right of the video.
If you are watching on your phone, click the little icon at the top of the screen (circled in blue in the picture below).
Here is our video tutorial on how to plant (sow) seeds directly into the ground…
Planting Into Containers To Start Inside:
Here is our video tutorial on how to top sow seeds outside and how to start seeds in containers to sprout inside…
We hope these video tutorials help you get started! If you have any questions, please comment below and we will try to answer. And stay tuned for more tutorials!
