newbie at gardening-help!?

[Courtney R]

i have never planted anything until three weeks ago in little pots in my kitchen and those flowers are growing its very exciting to watch. now i feel ready to start planting some outside and doing some minor landscaping. i know sort of what i want-i like stones and flowers not a bunch of greenery and buses and monkey grass. but i dont know how to get there. my front yard is very small and the grass is terrible weedy and spotty. theres a sidewalk about twelve feet from the road to my house. i was thinking of planting perennials on each side of the sidewalk and around the mailbox and uprooting the monkey grass ad rotting wood logs on the side of my house. my mom says i need to get good soil and mulch. idk how much, what kind, where to put it etc. and i dont know how to get rid of the bad soil. i know its hard to help without pictures but i know nothing and anything at all would actually be helpful. i live in tennessee close to georgia if that helps where we get pretty hot summers, pretty cold winters, not much snow but lots of rain if that helps. i was thinking perennials because i wont have to keep planting every year. thanks in advance!

 

[sciencegravy]

Dig up the weeds and monkey grass, and add as much organic matter as you can. Compost and peat are good additions. Mix them in with the native soil until it's well-mixes and not clumpy.

Good to a local garden center and take a walk through. See what you like the looks of. Annual flowers will bloom all summer, but you need to plant them every year. Perennials usually have a shorter bloom period, but the come back on their own each year, usually forming bigger clumps each year. (Black eye susans are a grea beginner's plnat, as they are perennial, but also bloom from July until frost, and are easy to grow. Once established, you can ignore them completely.)

 

[reynwater]

Find your Hardiness Zone first: http://www.plantmaps.com/interactive-tennessee-plant-maps-zone-hardiness-map.php Choose perennials that thrive in your zone.

Ammend the soil if you like by adding what yours lacks (humus, composted manure, top soil, peat moss...).

Choose planting material based on the amount of sun the area receives.
Sun: http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geutLvpPxNlmUAPRFhxrF_?p=sun+loving+perennial+flowers&fr=ush-ans&pqstr=sun+loving+p
Shade: http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geut8QpfxNuBIAwxJhxrF_?p=shade+loving+perennials&fr=ush-ans&pqstr=shade+loving+p

 

[Robert]

The best thing to do is concentrate on your soil. Good soil leads to good gardening. No need to get rid of any soil that you have now, just amend it. Compost is the best bet for doing it. Get rid of the plants that you don't want, define your new garden space, spread a generous amount of compost over the entire bed and till it in. Compost, especially good compost, will rejuvenate your tired soil and add essential nutrients and biologicals back into your soil. Once you have the soil licked, the planting is up to you. Just make sure you pick out plants that will thrive in the heat. Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of gardening!