Basics

Whether you're new to gardening or experienced, everyone needs some gardening basics to get going!

In this category, you'll find a wealth of information that spans a wide number of topics. From seed starting to grow bag gardening, pruning tips to raised bed tricks, you'll find the fundamentals of gardening awaiting you here.

While it's optimized towards new gardeners, even a pro can find useful tips in our Basics category. We all need to get back to basics sometimes, and there are always useful tools and tips that other gardeners have developed along the way to add to your own practices.

Our Basics category can inspire you to new gardening heights, too. Those who have experience with in-ground planting can learn about other techniques such as raised beds or vertical gardening.

View of a garden with wooden arches raised beds with various flowers and vegetables climbing vines on the wooden arches.

Raised Bed Gardening

19 Best Plants For Growing on Arches in Raised Beds

Raised bed gardening is all the rage! Tying your beds together with stunning, vine-covered arches is an easy way to elevate this extra convenient gardening method. To help you choose the perfect vine for your arches, gardening expert Melissa Strauss has some beautiful plants to help you with your decision.

A close-up of crimson clover plants reveals vibrant red flowers, each with delicate white streaks, while the leaves showcase a lush green hue with distinct three-lobed structures.

Gardening Tips

13 Best Plants for Green Mulch

Green mulching is a way to support your soil health, local wildlife, and pollinators and beautify your garden. Join organic farmer Jenna Rich as she discusses 13 great plants to use as green mulch.

Vibrant purple turtlehead flowers bloom gracefully against a backdrop of rich green foliage, creating a picturesque scene of natural beauty in a garden.

Gardening Tips

21 Plants that Thrive in Wet Soil

Wet, boggy, poorly drained gardens or pots missing adequate drainage are conditions that many gardeners consider problems, but for these plants, sopping wet soil is a positive, not a negative. Garden expert Christina Conner wades through 21 plants for rain gardens and swampy soils.

Close-up of a hori hori knife stuck into a raised garden bed, with a wooden fence in the background.

Basics

7 Uses for Hori Hori Knives in the Garden

It sometimes seems we need a million tools for different garden tasks, but the Hori-Hori is a tool that could replace them all. Garden expert Christina Conner shares her favorite uses for this multifunctional Japanese tool.