Welcome to The Garden Hour, a home for simple, practical gardening guides and free printable garden planners for home gardeners in the United States.
What you will find here
- Vegetable gardening guides with clear planting dates, spacing and care steps
- Raised beds & small spaces: layouts and ideas for patios, balconies and small yards
- Seed starting timelines worked out from your last frost date
- Herbs and flowers that are easy to grow and good for pollinators
- Free printables: planting calendars, seed trackers, garden journal pages and seasonal checklists
How we write our guides
Every guide starts with the answer up top, then walks through the steps. Planting dates are given by USDA hardiness zone and by weeks before or after your average last frost date, because that is what actually decides when to plant. We check timing, spacing and care details against university extension services and seed company growing guides, and we update posts when we find better information.
Gardens vary a lot by region, soil and weather, so treat our dates as a starting point and adjust for your own conditions. Your local cooperative extension office is a great free resource for region-specific advice.
Free printables
Our printables are free for personal use. Print as many copies as you like for yourself, your family, your classroom or your community garden.
Have a question or an idea for a printable? Get in touch.