Gardening Guides to Growing

Different Categories of Flowers and Plants

The gardening, landscaping, and plant care guides within The Garden Helper were written in response to my realization of the number of people who have never grown a plant in their lives.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and began helping my mother in her gardens when I was four years old (I was in charge of the worms and other slimey things). Flower and vegetable gardens were a standard part of the lifestyle throughout the area. Every home had a few house plants. I grew up assuming that was just the way of the world... something that everyone did, everywhere.

Photograph of an Asian Lily flower in the garden — Photograph of an Asian Lily flower...

When I discovered the internet and the BBS, I soon realized how many people had never felt the joy, or the feeling of accomplishment that comes when your garden bursts into bloom in the spring. I began answering plant questions for my friends on the net, and these eventually became the first of hundreds of pages I've written to let people know that there is no such thing as a "brown thumb". The gardening guides are based on my personal experiences, successes, and failures as I dug into the dirt over the past half century, not from a college course.

I was recently told (by a college kid who has a piece of paper that proclaims him to be a "horticulturist") that my information is outdated and obsolete. I'm not quite sure how, exactly, a page about "how to plant a seed" can become inaccurate, but I can assure you that my methods work very well for me, as they did for my mother, and her mother and so on... If you are a seasoned gardener with an occasional plant problem, I hope you will find the help you are looking for. There is a lot of information covered here, so if your needs go beyond the basics please use my search feature to make sure your help isn't buried somewhere on this site.

My primary objective, however, is to help those of you who are planting your very first garden, or growing your very first plant. There are many topics which are yet to be covered, but you should find all the step by step help you need to create your very own dream garden, from the first turn of the shovel to your first bouquet of flowers or your first fresh garden salad.

The Gardeners Forum

Gardeners helping other gardeners

The Garden Helper was created, written and maintained by Bill Beaurain.

All gardening information pages and photographs found within http://www.thegardenhelper.com are COPYRIGHT 1997 and may not be reproduced or redistributed for any commercial purpose without the express written consent of The Garden Helper.

Personal use and copying of data and images is of course, permitted.

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