• Image of a cabbage with straw mulch around it, with the text "How to Mulch Your Garden" and the Smart Gardener logo

    How to apply mulch to a vegetable garden

    Mulch is an indispensable part of the vegetable garden, with a multitude of benefits. We’ve got tips to help you know how much to add and when to add it.

  • seed saving getting something for nothing image of two white hands holding some small seeds, with the text "How to Save Your Own Seeds" and the Smart Gardener logo

    Saving Your Own Seeds: Getting Something for Nothing

    Whoever came up with the phrase “there is no such thing as a free lunch” didn’t know anything about vegetable gardening or saving your own seeds.

  • how to extend your summer garden growing season image of plastic cloches covering endive plants

    Extending Your Summer Garden Growing Season

    Extending your summer garden growing season is surprisingly easy. With a little planning you can continue to harvest tender plants like lettuces and tomatoes for several weeks, and maybe longer.

  • Planning a Winter Vegetable Garden image of parsley with frost, with the text "Planning a Winter Garden" and the Smart Gardener logo

    Planning a Winter Vegetable Garden

    Planning a winter vegetable garden is surprisingly easy. Follow these tips to keep growing your own vegetables once the summer crops are done.

  • Eight bee-friendly plants for your garden

    Did you know there are between 25,000 and 30,000 species of bees? May 20th has been designated as World Bee Day to celebrate the importance of bees and other pollinators and to bring attention to the threats they face from loss of habitat, pesticides, and a changing climate. Bees and other pollinators are a critically important […]

  • Strawberries

    Strawberries are easy-to-grow plants that deserve a space in every garden. Nothing compares to the taste of homegrown strawberries — the sweetness is like the taste of summer. Just as garden-fresh tomatoes beat the flavor of supermarket tomatoes, the strawberries you grow in your garden will be sweeter, juicier, and more tender than anything the […]

  • Top 9 tips for beginner gardeners

    Every year we are inspired by all the new gardeners we meet setting out on the journey of growing their own food. Their excitement is so pure it’s inspirational to even hardened old-timers. In fact, one of the best things about gardening is how eager older gardeners (folks with several years’ worth of dirt under […]

  • Prepare Clay Soil for Spring Planting

    One of the major considerations when putting in a new garden is soil texture. The mineral make up of soil is a mixture of different sized particles: sand, silt and clay. Each component plays an important role in the soil’s structure, impacting how well roots can grow and how much water and nutrients are available. […]

  • The trick to a successful first garden: start out small

    You might not think so from the countless words that have been written about it, but vegetable gardening is a pretty simple process. Plants are genetically programmed to grow (even our pampered crop plants) and all you have to do is give them the right things at the right times. You take seed, put it in […]

  • Sugar Snap Peas

    Have you considered growing peas? Looking for something to feed your sweet tooth, straight from the garden? Look no further than the Sugar Snap pea. There’s a reason they’re called “garden candy.” The Sugar Snap is actually a relative newcomer to the garden (first introduced in 1979), but it is now established as one of […]

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About Smart Gardener

An online vegetable garden planner for anyone who wants homegrown, healthy and tasty food to be part of their lifestyle…while having a busy life.

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There are a lot of variables that go into planning a garden. Smart Gardener does all the hard work for you. We collect, calculate and create a smart personal profile of your garden just for you. Learn more about your profile.

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