How to get confidence with gardening?

 
Hi there,
Each time I buy a indoor plant or look something up that's related to
any kind of gardening I get entirely lost in all the terminology, Latin
names, etc.

I would like to get improved at gardening and growing things devoid of
having to get my degree in horticulture. Are there any sources
(websites/books) for beginners who don't understand all the "big words”?




--
Liansekate

 

Gardening rarely requires you to go polysyllabic. In any event there is
usually an appropriate four letter word to replace it, manure, for
example, has a number of four letter replacements, phosphates (bone
meal), and potassium (wood ash). Peduncle could be tricky, because it
requires a 5 litter word (stalk), but you could just as easily get by
with stem.

If worse comes to worse, "Google" the word, or use a book called a
dictionary, sometimes found in an antiquities (old) store, to look it up.

You learn the words through use, but start with the monosyllabic ones,
and if you stick with it, the others will follow.
--
- Billy

Bush's 3rd term: Obama plus another elective war
Bush's 4th term: another Judas goat

America is not broke. The country is awash in wealth and cash.
It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the
greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks
and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
<http://theuptake.org/2011/03/05/michael-moore-the-big-lie-wisconsin-is-broke/>

 

(http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id 87)

--
Bill  S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden

"The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow." - Anon

http://patrickmurfin.livejournal.com/

 

This is a good'un, thanks.


"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming
gardeners who make our souls blossom."
 - Marcel Proust
--
- Billy

Bush's 3rd term: Obama plus another elective war
Bush's 4th term: another Judas goat

America is not broke. The country is awash in wealth and cash.
It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the
greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks
and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
<http://theuptake.org/2011/03/05/michael-moore-the-big-lie-wisconsin-is-broke/>

 
Gardening does not require an advanced degree, even though it may help.
Most plants have both a common name and a long dual latin name. Most
gardeners get by just fine without knowing the latin names and just use the
plants common name. Examples: Common name - Corn,  Latin -  Zea mays.
Common name -Tomato, latin -  Solanum lycopersicum. Go ahead and choose
your words :)

Gardening is really a local thing. What grows well in one area may not work
well elsewhere. This is a global forum here on gardening, so be aware what
may work in one place may not work well where you are. To really improve
your gardening techniques, you should consider joining a local garden club
or association. And it is perfectly fine to go it alone, just be prepare
for failures and let downs and enjoy your successes.

I do not have have a university degree in horticulture or agriculture. My
degree is in Mathematics / Computer Science. I did take a very useful ten
week local Master Gardeners Volunteers class provided by the state in which
i live.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R  (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)