Q&A for How to Start a Garden

Take timing into account. Planting dates vary with climate zones. If you live in a region with mild winters and hot summers, for example, you'll be able to plant earlier in the year than you would if you lived in a region with cold winters and shorter summers.

You can take your food scraps and start a compost pile in a large container, it will be great fertilizer. If you need something more quickly, ashes from burnt wood are high in phosphorous, and urine is high in nitrogen.

The best way to keep your dog out of your garden is to mount a fence that's too tall for your dog to jump over. You could also tie your dog up outside using a leash that's an appropriate length to keep them from reaching your garden.

Raw food scraps. Dig a hole and bury them in the garden. They will break down faster. Sometimes I save my eggshells, orange peels, carrot peels, apple cores, and place them in the blender and grind them up for my soil in my garden. Then I just dig a hole and bury them.

Before you put any plants into your garden, plan out how many figurines you want, and where you want them. Put small stakes in the ground where you want each figurine. When choosing plants, try ones with small flowers that grow close to the ground. Ornamental trees are a nice touch. Do not choose sprawling plants. Use stones to block plants from intruding. Mosses help block other plants, and add a small "grass" that is very manageable and appealing.