The two most important things to consider when starting a garden are climate and soil. Everything else will be based on these. Soil can be amended and every garden contains micro-climates, spots that are warmer, cooler, wetter or drier. But the basics must be considered – if you live in the northeast, you’ll have a difficult time growing tropical plants outside. If you live in the desert, bulbs that require chilling will not come back reliably.. If you have alkaline soil, azaleas and camellias will never do well. If you have acid soil, most plants will not be happy.

So do a little homework before you dig in – ha – and save yourself some grief. Test your soil for pH, structure and type. Know your maximum high and low temperatures. Try to decide what kind of gardener you want to be – a weekend gardener who spends time doing basic maintenance on Saturday and Sunday,  a more hands-on gardener who actually enjoys the process or a full blown gardening maniac. Many people who start out as weekend warriors are soon converted to the manic stage, so be warned. If you aren’t sure, and you probably aren’t, don’t give yourself too much work to begin with – ease into gardening by starting with one flower bed or border or one small vegetable plot. By the time that project is in place, you’ll undoubtedly know how much you can do and how much you want to do.