Garden Guides – Start Here

Are you new to gardening? Then start here for the basics. This section includes garden guides, in-depth articles on our more popular gardening topics.

Learn to Garden

You can learn to garden from books, videos, and online articles. Other resources to help you start a garden include your local Cooperative Extension office (in the USA only). Local Cooperative Extension resources offer in-person gardening classes, tours and access to master gardeners who can answer gardening questions in your gardening zone and area.

Free Garden Guides

The following free guides are available online at Home Garden Joy. Click the link to get started.

Each of our garden guides includes plenty of resources, but if you’d like more information, check out our YouTube channel. We have videos covering many gardening topics including pruning, house plants, and more.

Home Garden Joy’s YouTube Channel

Watch free gardening videos.

These free videos include special presentations and videos as well as the weekly Ask the Gardener recordings from 2021.

Free Gardening Downloads

In addition to the longer articles and resource pages, above, we also have free downloads. These include monthly tip sheets to help you know what to do in the garden as well as new resources, like our When to Prune Trees and Shrubs guide

Downloadable Garden Guides

When to Prune Trees and Shrubs

Monthly Gardening Tip Sheets

Updated December 31, 2021 with new information, images, and resources

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

Raised bed vegetable garden soil soil needs to be replenished periodically. If you’ve done your job right and selected great soil, and amended it with nice compost, you’re going to have super garden soil for the first few years. Because you don’t walk on a raised bed garden the way that you do with typical…

How to Build a Vegetable Garden Using Raised Beds

If you’re thinking about building a vegetable garden this year, raised beds are one of the best ways I know of to start a vegetable garden. Instead of renting a rototiller or hand-digging the soil, adding amendments and turning it all under to create a good garden bed, you start with the best soil mixture…

Henbit: Plant Profile

I’ve put together this henbit plant profile to spotlight a lovely plant – which many gardeners consider a weed. Weed or flower? To me, it’s a matter of perspective. Every spring, at least one of my raised beds is covered in a thick mat of henbit. Henbit is both lovely and practical despite being labeled…

fresh beets from the garden on the lawn after being washed

The Ultimate Guide to Growing Organic Beets

I wrote this Ultime Guide to Growing Beets to share my techniques for growing tasty, organic beets. Beets are a powerhouse of nutrition. Both the beetroot and the leaves and stems are edible. You can also can beets and beet greens to store them for year-round use. Here, I share with you a full guide…