You may be the type of gardener who wants instant results–a beautiful garden that you can enjoy almost immediately.  On the other hand, maybe you’d like to go the more economical route and plant from seeds. Either have their benefits–it’s up to you.

A quick garden with instant results means less work. If you’d like a garden that’s awash with plants and blooms almost immediately, any good nursery will have types of blooming healthy plants to choose from–roses or tulips for instance. If you are a beginner gardener, make sure to get advice from the nursery’s staff. You’ll want to know how much sun and water the plant will need–plus how often to water, and how much drainage the plant requires. Many decorative pots and containers don’t have drainage holes, which can mean your plant will not thrive. Check for holes, or consider carefully drilling holes into the bottom of the containers.

Another important question to ask–how much space does the root bulb need? Most plants will need to be repotted, or if replanting into the ground, you’ll want to know how far apart to plant them. Some small shorter-lived plants will do fine in their orignal containers, and some plants like to be root-bound, meaning the less space they have to spread out their roots, the more energy the plant puts into the stems and blooms themselves.  But most will need about double the space so that the plant can grow healthily. Of course you can find gardening books, and plants usually have a label that gives this type of information, but it’s good to get an expert’s advice right there on the spot. The label may say “four to six  hours of sun” or “partial shade”  but it’s always helpful  to talk to the expert!. “Instant gardening”  is easy to do, since you don’t have to worry about plantung bulbs in the fall for early spring blooms, or planting seed and nurturing the seedlings to be planted in the later months of Spring.

Planting from seeds is more economically but not only does it take more time, it takes effort and a bit of expertise. You need to be especially diligent when watering seeds and seedlings. And you need to take into consideration your climate. If you live in the United States, there are basically ‘zones’ for planting, and each zone has an optimal time to plant seeds. If you are lucky enough to live in a ‘frost-free” zone, your concerns are  probably going to be more about summer heat and drought than when to plant seeds.

The bottom line is, if  you’re an impatient  garden, you may want to skip the whole process of growing from seeds!