by Glory Lennon

Created on: August 03, 2008

If you are new to gardening, the best way to acquaint yourself with the ways of horticulture, next to devoting years to study and traveling hither and thither to Botanical gardens, is to "buddy" up to some old gardeners. Not necessarily old in age but already knowing a bit more than you. In the same vain, knowing someone who has "been there, done that" can come in handy when you want to start your very own perennial garden. They not only can tell you the best plants with which to begin a nice flower bed, they most likely, if they are any sort of true garden buddy, will start you off with bits of plants from their own yard which costs you nothing but a sincere smile and a thank you.

This is, in truth, the only way to garden especially when you don't have a Paris Hilton type bank account. Yes, gardeners are thrifty by nature and generous by design. While it may seem to you that they are being overly generous by giving you half of a Hosta, Iris, Liatris or Daylily, it is, in fact, doing themselves good. They not only get their plants divided which helps keep them healthy and productive but the extra space can be used to grow another plant. We gardeners run out of room for plants in remarkable rapidity.

To "weed" out the garden and give these extra plants away to other gardeners is our way of making room for any new stuff that comes our way and in the process make new friends who in turn may, one day when they establish their own perennial boarder, return the favor and share with us. It's a wonderful cycle of give and take which benefits everyone, bees, butterflies and birds included.

So, there you are with a prepared site in a spot getting the most sun you can in your particular yard, hopefully between 4 and 8 hours. The site should be weeded and tilled with rocks and other debris removed. Hopefully you've added organic material, such as compost, leaf mold, peat moss or rotted cow manure, to the site and tilled that in as well. Now all you need do is take a walk around your neighborhood preferably in early spring. That is when most folks are out in the yard eager to start gardening.

On your first recognizance trip around the neighborhood you should be taking notes, literally taking notes in a notebook about what you see that you like in others' yards. If possible ask the owners the names and cultivars of plants you really like. This will come in handy when shopping for particularly valuable or hard to find plants. Note size in height and width and try to picture

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