Are you planning to start a landscape, plant, or flower garden? If so, consider the garden care involved. Some gardens are easy to maintain, while others are more complex and may even require hiring a service. Overall, outdoor gardening is very rewarding, with apparent outcomes: visual appeal or delicious and healthy organic veggies and herbs.

Landscape Garden

Landscape gardens are gorgeous but they take a lot of work � just a few weeks of neglect, and the idyllic area can start to look wild again. Landscape garden care depends on the complexity of landscaping and plants that you plan to grow. A simple landscape garden can consist of a pond, lawn, and a few types of decorative grasses. A more complex design can include: varied perennials, shrubs, flowers, trees, vines, fountains, waterfalls, and complex decorations. Some grasses and plants are easier to maintain than others, so do your research and plan accordingly. If you are not sure where to start, I suggest reading �Gardening for Dummies� or turning to a professional for advice.

Herb and Vegetable Garden

The complexity of herb and vegetable garden maintenance depends on the types of plants you are planning to grow. It can be a lot of work or easy as pie. For example, garlic is very easy to grow: plant the cloves in the fall and dig up your garlic in the spring. Other herbs that are easy to grow include chives and cilantro.

Talking about veggies, potatoes are easy to grow, but insects can be a serious threat and digging up potatoes is quite laborious. Vegetables that are very easy to grow include: rhubarb, corn, carrots, and beans. Remember that every edible plant and vegetable has its own character, growing requirements, and time. For example, asparagus takes longer to grow, broccoli prefers cooler conditions, and bamboo is very aggressive and difficult to manage.

Flower Garden

A flower garden will not provide you with delicious fresh organics, but it’s a true pleasure for the eye and senses. The easiest garden flowers and perennials to grow include: poppies, tulips, crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths, snowdrops, daisies, foxgloves, garden mums, and garden phlox.

Seasonal Maintenance

Caring for any type of a garden is different in the spring, summer, fall and winter. Spring is the time to prepare seedbeds, rake, order seeds, sow and plant early species, protect seedbeds from birds, and harvest early crops (if you have a vegetable garden). Spring is also the time for the first lawn mowing of the year. Summer is the time to dig out weeds and encourage the growth of plants by watering and using fertilizers (be sure to avoid overfeeding and overwatering). Autumn is the time to collect the crops, remove dead growth, aerate the soil, and later cover the lawn or garden with organic material for the winter. In most areas, winter months are a quiet time for gardens and lawns. All there is to do is watch for puddles (they indicate the need to aerate the soil in spring) and root out large weeds.

Tip: if you are a beginner, it is a good idea to find a suitable garden care checklist and follow it.