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The first step to starting a garden is choosing a good spot and knowing how big of an area you need.First, ask Mom and Dad if there is a small, sunny, safe place in your yard that you can use to start your very own flower garden.Observe your yard at different times of the day to see where and how long the sun shines. Are some spots too shady? Or, just a little shady? Take note of what spots get the most sunshine, and how much.Plants need the right amount sunlight to grow healthy and to photosynthesize. Many plants do well in an open

area, getting sun for most of the day, and there are plants that do well in a shady spot too.Choose a sunny spot for your first garden. A flower garden that gets sunshine for most of the day will give you many flowers to choose from to plant in your garden that need “full sun”. Full sun means that the garden gets sunshine for most of the day with no shade from trees or buildings. If you don’t have a sunny location for your garden there are still many plants to choose from that will do well in partial shade or full shade. A partial shade garden has less sunlight

due to shade from buildings or tree tops that cause some shading, but still allows some sunlight to come through to the plants in the garden. A full shade garden will get very little to no sunlight for most of the summer.A garden that it is easy to get in and out of will make gardening easy and safe too. Keep it simple and start small when choosing the size and the location for your first garden. By starting with a small size garden you can concentrate on gardening knowledge as you garden, while enjoying the rewards of a flowering garden without

GARDENGARDENFORFORYOURYOUR

Covertory

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being overwhelmed. You can always expand at a later time if you wish. As you will learn gardening takes patience and it may take years to finally have the garden you pictured in your mind when you first started out gardening.Different size seeds are plant-ed deeper in the soil than others. Spacing between each seed is also important. Look for how far apart to plant the seeds in the soil too. A finger is a good way to make a hole for the seed. Just follow how deep to plant the seed in the soil. After placing seed in the soil cover with soil and pat down gently. Water with a

sprinkler watering can. Keep an eye on your weather, and with some knowledge of frost dates you can decide when it is time to plant, and start the growing season.The flower garden is now ready for plants. You know the soil and light conditions in your garden. You now know the climate and hardiness zone of where you live. You learned about a plant’s name. All these help you choose flowers and seeds that will grow well in your garden.- Write a list of all your gar-den’s growing conditions. Sunlight, climate, soil and drainage, and hardiness

zones. Having a record or checklist to look at is a quick way to see if a plant will grow well in your garden. Making a list of flowers and seeds you would like to plant in your garden is helpful too. To get an idea of what you would like to plant have a look at some books. There are many books on flowers and garden-ing for kids in the library. Lo-cal gardening centers or Gar-den Nurseries usually have gardening guide books with pictures of the plants and seeds they sell. They offer all the growing and caring infor-mation you need when choos-ing plants or seeds.

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