Any Tips for someone new in gardening?

I have this new interest now and that is caring for the yard. I haven't tried gardening all my life except in school projects. I live in the Northwest Coast and it is spring and I want to put up a garden. I read online that there are kinds of flowers,plants, etc and they fall into categories such as annual, perrenial and others. Wow this is all new to me the language of plants and I want to get down on my knees and start a garden. What plants and flowers and herbs should be easy to grow for starters like me? And does anyone give free seedlings, seeds,plants,flowers to grow? just trying my luck.. Thank you and have a wonderful and lovely springtime..we get rains here though…

Do I ever have some suggestions for you. I do landscape design, amoung other things and always enjoy sharing information.

The very first thing you want to do is buy a 2 cubic foot bag of soil conditioner from Home Depot or a good nursery. It will cost you 6 - 8 dollars and condition a good size garden. Spread the soil conditioner evenly over the surface of the ground. If there is less than 2 inches of compost after spreading, You'll need a second bag.

No one can tell you what plants you can grow without knowing your sun exposure.

The main catagories of plants are

Annuals (they grow this year and don't come back next year. However, your colder climate means some plants which are annuals there, In our warmer climate, become)

Perenials (Perenials are plants that bear foilage year round, Evergreen, if you will. They may bloom at any point throughout the growing season depending on the plant. There is a second type of Perenial called)

Deciduous (Deciduous plants are those Perenials that go into a sort of hibernation for the winter and reapear when the climate warms. Many trees are deciduous. They loose their leaves in the fall and regrow them in the spring)

Conofers (Conifers are the evergreen trees and plants that have needle or needle like leaves such as pine trees)

Succulants (Cactus' are a major member of this catagory. These plants store water for use during dry times).

Bulbs and tuberous (These plants have storage underground for hard times)

So, back to the garden. A mixture of the different types of plants is usually the best solution for a garden. Lets say your garden gets some sun but it is Morning or Late Afternoon sun which lasts 4 hours or less. You should select plants that are labled Part or Partial Sun. In this type of exposure, azaleas are a good choice for the background or random spot planting. They will bloom their little hearts out for you each spring and remain green the year round. You might want to plant some Iris and or Holland bulbs (tulips etc…) for a dramatic effect in late Winter to Spring depending on your selection. These are Desiduous and will return eack year. Taller bulb plants are good planted 4 to 6 inches apart in groups of three, five or seven bulbs. The shorter bulb plants can be used as above or planted in a row as a border.

Monkey grass, Liriope, is a great border Perinial that enjoys partial shade. In fact there are a lot of grasses that work well in a Part sun garden.

I would reserve no more than 1/3 of your garden for annuals. This is the only way you can preserve a "finished" looking garden throughout the year. You would want plants that are labled, Part sun or Part shade. Just go to your garden center once a month and pick up what is blooming. Replace the plants that are spent with the new bloomers within this 1/3 alloted area.

If a plant calls for full sun, it means about 5 hours of sun per day. Due to the length of this answer, I would like to ask you to contact me through my profile and I will add full sun suggestions to this answer.

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I've decided to take gardening as a new hobby, but I know nothing about it. Could anyone give me tips on what "beginner" plants to grow or perhaps what materials should I use. Thanks!

Pick up a book called "Gardening for Dummies''… and no, I'm not being mean, it's a really great help for beginners!!….and my best tips are…

get a soil sample tested at your agriculture/county extension office
find a supplier of compost (landscape supply, likely)

work with your soil FIRST and get it as good as you can get it before you begin planting… cuz once you get those plants in, you cannot do much with your soil after that…. soil first, plants later….

I am planting a garden this year for my first time, can anyone tell me when to plant what to plant and anything else that you find helpful in gardening.
Thanks in advance for all your help

try a mix of veggies and flowers. Do stuff that you like to eat and is not so picky about growing. and if you've got the space try out some kind of melon. Get a bunch of seed catalogs and get excited, check out some garden books from your local library.

Also, don't try to do too much. Start small and really do it well. Next year you can always expand

Some good seed companies - you can look at their catalogs online-
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Johnny's Select
The Seed Savers Exchange
High Mowing Seeds
Fedco (get the fedco paper catalog it is totally fabulous!)

Do Big Boy Tomatoes really grow in a 1×1 space? Seems hard to believe…

Yes, but it's a real pain to keep them in the space. The actual growing of the plant works fine, but dealing with such a big plant in such a small space takes a lot of effort. You have to constantly tie it up, and if it is right next to another one, you will find it very difficult to harvest due to the density of the foliage in that confined area.

I find square foot gardening much more useful for any of the salad crops (why plant radishes in a row when you can fill up a tiny little square with them?) and smaller plants up to the size of peppers and eggplants. I grow my tomatoes and my squash in much more spread-out beds.

dont forget to water them and give them sunlight……putting them outside for a couple of hours is supposed to be good aswell

Start small. An inexperienced gardener who puts in a huge garden will get overwhelmed, and possibly stop gardening altogether because they get so frustrated.

Try one or two things at a time, and gain experience.

Talk to neighbors who garden.

Look around - see what grows in your area.

Here are two of my favorite gardening websites:

http://www.gardenguides.com/

http://www.greenpatio.com/

Both sites are full of tips and advice. I hope you enjoy them.

Good luck with your gardening.

where to go if i needs tips on how to make my outdoor look beautiful

I definitely like Gardenweb.com. When I was new to gardening, I would go there and ask questions and there were many knowledgeable people - some were a bit rude though, because they really knew their stuff.

I've also gone to Better Homes & Gardens website. They will even give you plans that you can use in your yard and tell you how many flowers to buy and where to place them. Many beautiful things to choose from.

If you sign up for seed/plant cataloges, you can get their newsletters via email that give many helpful hints.

my garden is very very large its like a farm maybe a bit bigger
me and my boyfriend moved there 2 months ago and want to start work on it

If you are interested in having a pond, I suggest you go to koiphen.com. This is s free site that has alot of info on all kinds of ponds, ie: mud ponds, goldfish, koi, water gardens etc. Many of the nice folks on this site live on large farm like lands and have many ideas for not only ponds but gardens. Good Luck!

Besides using bird houses, feeders, and baths. Do you use your flower beds and landscaping to attract birds to your yard? What plants do you use? How do you layout your garden in respect to birdbaths, feeders and houses?

The answers to your questions will depend on what birds you hope to see.

Cardinals, orioles and robins are not cavity nesters–they need trees and bushes to nest in. Bluebirds and swallows are cavity nesters, and need either old woodpecker holes or boxes. Wrens are also cavity nesters, but they, like bluebirds, need specialized boxes.

Food is the next question–unless you want to use feeders, you may want to use plants that provide food. Million Bells, Fuschia, Morning Glories–those will attract hummingbirds. Sunflowers will attract cardinals and bluejays. Robins, bluebirds and swallows are bug eaters, so feeders and plants will typically not attract them. Also consider plants, trees and bushes that will provide food over the winter (such as berries and seeds).

Layout will depend on your home and yard. For your own pleasure, you'll probably want to lay out your garden so you can see the birds often from inside.