How to get started?

abbie612

I am clueless when it comes to plants and gardening.  However, we just bought a house on 4.5 acres that belonged to real gardeners.  The house has a huge greenhouse with heat and water, etc.  The yard is fully landscaped, including mature trees, bushes, flowers, grape vine, etc.  Plus a HUGE fenced in garden area.

So where do I start?  Any suggestions on books/websites/etc. to learn the basics of beginning gardening?  Ideally, I'd love to be able to maintain the existing yard, plant some annuals, and do a small veggie garden.  But I have the least green thumb ever, I swear!

Thanks for any advice  

kastle

The upside is that established gardens usually need minimal maintenance (weeding, watering during dry periods, applying additional mulch, etc.)  Do you have a local nursery (not a HD or Lowes) that has ppl that could come out & give you tips?  Otherwise, see if you can find some region-specific gardening books.  I find that general how-to ornamental gardening books aren't that useful.

As for edible gardening, I like Square Foot Gardening (it's a raised bed technique, but it's easy to read & understand) & Grow Great Grub.

VanessaOSU

I agree with the above.  I also suggest  checking out blogs of real gardners to see what does and doesnt work for them.  One of my favorites is Skippy's Garden.

kastle

VanessaOSU:

I agree with the above.  I also suggest  checking out blogs of real gardners to see what does and doesnt work for them.  One of my favorites is Skippy's Garden.

Oh, yes!  That blog also has a planting calender that is super helpful if you're starting seeds.

You may also want to try to find local gardening blogs as what "works" in, say, Florida (hot, humid weather almost year round, sandy soil, etc.) is going to be very different than the piedmont area of VA (cold winters, humid summers, heavy clay soil, etc.)

CollegeGrrl219

I agree with Kastle. You need some local resources.

I'd start with your local library. Find books about gardening that are specific to your area. Look for pictures to identify the plants you have.

~NB~

Your local county extension agent probably runs a master gardener program. Try to contact someone from there in the spring or summer, ask them to walk around the property with you and ID the plants. You can make labels or garden stakes as you go, then read up about your plants in your spare time. You could also locate a person to help you with this by finding out which local community college has a horticulture program, and contacting the department head. They post stuff like this on the Hort Club bulletin board. And join a local garden club- they can help you too.

rubyiu

I started gardening in earnest last year, the first year I had my own place with land for it. I picked about a dozen veggies I wanted to grow and bought the books "Vegetable Gardening for Dummies" and "The Vegetable Gardener's Bible" (E. Smith) I also went to a continuing ed class at my local community college about growing. Not everything was successful but I learned a lot with my research and a little trial and error. I think this year I'll do even better!

bebe11

Some nurseries in my area offer free classes, that would be worthwile to look into.  Your yard sounds amazing!