Gardening is a great way to escape the stress of daily life by working with your hands and getting in touch with nature. It’s also a way to add some beauty and peace to your home by surrounding it with lovely plants. Read on to find out how to start your home garden today.

Containers lying around the place, whether it be an old bath tub, sink, or troughs normally used in farming are great containers for gardens. For example, you can use round troughs for growing your own organic herbs and vegetables. So if you come by these items think twice before you take them to the dump.

When the vegetable season is over, grow a shoulder season crop if possible. Fruits like strawberries or raspberries bear fruit very early or very late in the season before or after the summer vegetable crops take over and can be planted. Raspberries can be planted to bear fruit in the fall and strawberries can be planted to bear fruit in the spring.

A great organic spray that will help discourage pests in your garden is by mixing garlic, onion or chives and mix with water to create a spray. To make the spray, just chop peeled garlic, onions or chives very fine and mix ½ cup of water with it and strain.

Utilize proper tools and keep them in tip-top shape to lessen the stress on your body when you’re gardening. Spades and hoes should be periodically sharpened to keep them working at their best. If you have the space, choose tools such as long handled spades that allow you to stand while working. The better you feel after gardening, the more often you’ll enjoy getting your hands dirty!

Use groundcover perennials in sunny areas. Groundcover perennials can be used as an alternative to grass where there is minimal foot traffic, or in an area where grass is difficult to maintain, such as on a slope. They are also handy in between larger perennials, as they help to suppress weeds and keep the soil moist and cool. Good choices for groundcover perennials are creeping thyme, ajuga, various sedums, alyssum and armeria.

When it is spring and time to plant, do you have a hard time remembering what your gardens looked like the year before so that you know where to plant your new bulbs? This year, take pictures of your spring garden, and in the fall have a look at them. If you see a place in the yard that is bare and in need of a new daffodil, you can be confident on where to plant the new bulbs!

If you like to start your seeds indoors before the first signs of spring are in the air, avoid using seed starter pods and plant in a larger container to start. Using a larger container with plenty of soil for your seed will give the plant a real chance to grow without you having to transplant it several times before it can go outside.

With the information you just learned you should start feeling like you can get your home garden started. Remember that the only way you can hope to have a good amount of success is if you educate yourself on the subject then apply all that you learned to your garden, if you do that you should have a prosperous garden in no time.