1. Plan It out

When Lyndsie and I first started planning out our garden, the top gardening tips that we followed were all about planning what you want to accomplish first. We wanted certain veggies and certain flowers and we had to think up a place to put them all. Once you have a plan, it's much easier to not only budget but also super easy to look up tips for caring for what you want to plant!

2. Know What/when to Plant

I actually had no idea that you had to have some sort of a plan whenever you are gardening – seriously, I didn't know you had to know when and where and what to plant, I just knew that I wanted to plant! You've got to know that tomatoes need plenty of sunlight but other plants might like the shade. Do your research before you plant!

3. Understand Where the Sun Hits

Ah, this is a huge one! If you have no idea where the sun hits, yet you are planting plants that need a lot of sunlight, you've got to be sure the sunlight is hitting them. So, on a really sunny day, go outside, plot out exactly where the sun hits, so that you know exactly where to plant those sun-loving plants!

4. Water in the Morning

Did you know that watering your plants in the morning is the best? That's because the heat hasn't gotten there yet and because the roots are actually open. If you water in the afternoon, the roots don't absorb nearly as well as they do in the morning. So, a quick water shower in the morning for your plants is ideal!

5. Remove Spent/Faded Flowers

A lot of people just leave the dead flowers on the plant and they believe that they will just fall off naturally, if you pick those dead flowers and leaves off, you'll actually make your plants healthier! The reason? The root is no longer trying to revive that particular leaf or flowers, therefore it can concentrate on what is good.

6. Remember, Veggies Need 8 Hours of Sunlight

Now, let me preface this by saying that not all of the veggie plants in the world need 8 hours of sunlight, but most of them do, so that means that you've got to really plan out exactly where you are going to put your plants and you've got to make sure that they are somewhere in the sunlight.

7. Hand-Weed

Finally, hand-weeding is going to be the very best way to ensure that your veggies aren't harmed. If you weed wack around your veggie plants, you could actually snip a root or even hit your veggies themselves, while they are growing!

So ladies and gentlemen, this is just a great guide to go by whenever you are just starting out with gardening in the summer. Lyndsie and I just started this year with our garden – do you have a garden? Have you used these tips?