To say I’m a novice gardener is giving me more credit than I deserve. Not only do I lack basic gardening skills, but everything I plant seems to wither away and die in less than a few days. I sometimes feel like there’s a curse on my hands…or at least my thumb has turned black. But I love beautiful flowers and a well manicured lawn. I have a beautiful home that could use a little landscaping update.

Summer is quickly approaching and now I’m faced with dreaded task of gardening. I decided to give my neighbors a break and start in the backyard so that I don’t disrupt the property value of their beautifully landscaped lawns. My shrubs and bushes are great; my challenge is flowers. What type of flower, what color, what height, sun or shade, and the list of questions goes on. It would be a lot easier just to pay someone to landscape for me but I am determined to do this myself. I took the time to research some sites to help with my gardening DIY project. If you are like me, these sites will help you get started.

Greenscape Gardens and Gifts in Manchester, MO – They gave me a list of flowers that will endure in the hot St. Louis summers. They also have great gardening tips, ideas for landscape design, and a calendar of the best types of flowers to plant by month on their website. They also offer Thirsty Thursday classes to learn all kinds of fun gardening tips from experienced gardeners and horticulturalists. They’re open Monday-Saturday from 9-6 and Sunday from 9-5 for all of your gardening needs.

Lowe’s Home Improvement stores are located all over and are great for when you need quick tips. They also have a fountain of information with great how to’s, gardening tips, how to choose the right gardening tools, fertilizers specific to your flowers and plants, and even which pesticides are best for your garden. But the best part are the DIY video tutorials on YouTube! Everything from How To Plant Your Garden to Sprucing Up to Keeping Out Weeds. I’m a visual person so that was perfect for me. There’s a great Lowe’s coupon site as well, for those who need some new gardening tools.

Missouri Botanical Garden is my favorite. Their website offers a Help for the Home Gardener section that gave me endless suggestions on flowers, shrubs, and a wide variety of plants. Plus a great Advice, Tips & Resources section for the home gardener. But the best part of all is that they have a staff available to help you in person at The Kemper Center for Home Gardening. From 10am-3pm Monday-Saturday, you can walk in and speak to one of their plant doctors. It’s the largest non-profit information center for home gardeners! They offer classes, tutorials, additional resources, and hands-on training. There’s also a Horticulture Answer Service that you can call M-F from 9am-12pm. With all of this help, you really can’t go wrong.

Now that I’m armed with all this great information, it’s time to plant! Wish me luck!

Any green thumbs out there with additional tips and tricks? Feel free to share them with me in the comments below. I’m open to ALL the help I can get!

 

Mills Properties

Photo credit: newhomesrule.com