Websites for Do-It-Yourself Gardeners

Some of the best gardening and landscaping advice is available write at your fingertips - on the web. Dozens of sites boast free plans, plant encyclopedias, gardening tips and articles discussing everything from Chic Chinese Pavilions to creating a French-Country Backyard. I've attempted to wade through this maze of information and have provided a short list of the top four I found most helpful.

Although they're not meant to be a replacement for an experienced landscaper, these sites will definitely inspire and give you a place to start. Happy gardening!

BHG.com
This website by Better Homes and Gardens has everything you ever wanted to know about gardens, planning, maintenance, lawns, plants, and everything green. They probably have one of the largest collections of free plans I've seen yet as well as some nifty tools to help you begin your landscaping journey. Their handy web tools include:

1. Plant finder - allows you to locate every plant imaginable, includes detailed description, growing info and color photo.

2. Garden plans - virtually hundreds of garden plans for every type of yard, climate, plant type (perennial, annual, container, shade, pond side, color theme, etc.). They also provide ideas for entire landscape themes such as entertaining, low-maintenance, small backyard or small front yard. Sign up for free and you can access detailed planting guides for all the plans.

3. Plan-a-Garden – This gives you an online planning guide where you can chart out your virtual garden, add plants, trees, shrubs, and flowers in relation to structures, decks, or fences on the property. You can even design walkways and add stepping stones, patio tables and benches.

GardenDesigner.com
This is a beautifully designed site providing amazing ideas for all types of garden and patio design. They feature start-to-finish slideshows of various projects, and lots of design and money-saving tips. They offer advice from architects and even discuss home security in the landscape. The only downside is all the Google ads you have to sift through on the pages.

HGTV.com
This site is full of timely articles and gardening tips and most of important of all, lots of big colorful pictures. In their article “Taking up Space” about how to fill large areas, they detail each suggested plant and include large images of each.

The section on landscaping discusses every type of garden, as well as patios, decks and paths.Where Bhg.com is the place to go for plans, this site has a lot of useful advice and "before and after" projects.

GardenGuides.com
This site isn't as pretty as the others, but it has a wealth of gardening and plant information. You can easily look up just about any flower, herb, tree, shrub, vine, etc. and access a lengthy information sheet that outlines characteristics, and all you need to know about planting them and keeping them alive. There are tons of "how to's" as well as garden recipes and a fairly active forum.

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