You have been living in that house for quite a few years now. You have the perfect house with a lot of space in your front yard and backyard.

For years, you were busy renovating and decorating the exteriors and the interiors of the house. However, you felt like there is something missing. The house looked nice and all that but it did not seem that it was alive. Aside from you, your family and your pets, there must be other things that are alive and breathing in your house and your yard.

Except for a large tree in front of your house, some patches of wild grass here and there and your potted cactus in the window sill, you realized that you need a garden.

Now you want a garden of yours. Everyone in the block has a garden and it seems to you that they enjoy having one. The problem now sets in- where and how do you start your garden.

Do not be so quick in deciding and impulsive about your garden. A garden, just like your house, needs a good dose of effective planning. You do not just buy seeds here, pots there, buy equipment and materials, paint your fence white and voila!

Here are some tips on how to start your garden:

The first step is to evaluate the size of your garden. This is the base on what type of garden you can have.

Next step is to decide what type of garden you want to have. You may want to identify if you want to have a vegetable garden, or a flower garden or just a normal plant garden, given the amount of space available for you. You are lucky if you have a big area which will allow you to have different kinds of plants.

Once you have decided on the type of garden that you want, look at the composition of the soil that is available for you. Evaluate what kind of soils you have. Is it clay soil or more of a sand soil? This will determine if planting is feasible or if you will be required to buy more fertilizers etc.

After all the planning and evaluation, you can have your soil tilled. If you are home- based, you can do this yourself if you want hands- on experience. However, if your yard is large and you have work outside your house, you can always hire someone to do the tilling for you.

Next is to buy seedlings that you want to plant. You can also buy those ready to plant plants that can be bought in plant nurseries. Based on your plan, check and follow how you will plant your plants and seedlings. Plant your seedlings now, water and wait.

Make sure that when you start your garden, you are fully committed in maintaining and caring for it. As you see, plants are alive and will need the basic care like sunshine, water and your time. Do not attempt to start a garden and plan on stopping at some point.