Inspiring Ideas for Your Spring Garden

This cozy cottage shed features plenty of windows to overlook the garden. Inside, the walls and floors were painted to give the shed a more polished look. Comfortable furniture makes this an ideal spot for chatting with friends or reading a good book. You can purchase already-built sheds that you customize, kits for garden sheds that you can put together or have a contractor build one from the ground up.

Azaleas are a perennial favorite for the garden, and when you plant them in the right place, they'll grow into a gorgeous floral privacy hedge for your yard. Depending on the variety, azaleas begin blooming in early spring. They have stems with profuse blooms in vibrant colors. If left unpruned, they can grow together to form a hedge. They require frequent watering and grow best when fertilized in the spring.

Thisinfographic on spring fertilization is full of information about when and how to fertilize your lawn. It's important to follow for your geographic area as too much or too little fertilizing can harm a lawn. Keep this as a quick reference before purchasing fertilizer to feed your turf.

Roses can be demanding, but their blooms make them worth the trouble to grow. There are many different varieties and colors to choose from, so you're bound to find one that will fit perfectly in your flower bed. If you're starting your rose garden from scratch, consider planting bare root roses which are more affordable. Spring is a great time to install a rose garden.

Clematis is a beautiful climbing vine and a colorful showstopper. Plant these big, bright blooms and watch them climb up and around your mailbox, a trellis or a column in your outdoor space. Clematis dies back in the winter in most locales, but will return each spring with little coaxing. This is also one vine that can thrive when planted in a planter.

Sunflowers brighten summer gardens and they’re easy to grow from seed. Try container varieties, too, for a season full of sunshine. Sunflowers will bloom later in the season, ensuring you have color throughout summer. If needed, stake sunflowers to keep their stems from breaking.

It’s incredibly easy to make your own compost. Let Mother Nature and a few hundred earthworms do all the work. Just add your vegetable and fruit scraps and egg shells. Your local The Home Depot offers compost bins, and may also offer classes on how to compost properly. Compost bins come in different sizes so it's easy to tuck one out of sight but convenient to your kitchen.

Who needs flowers when you can have the vibrant foliage of coleus? Coleus likes part-shade, so keep it out of the afternoon sun. When properly cared for, coleus will carpet a bed with color. There are many colors and varieties to choose from. This is a popular choice for late summer and early fall color in your garden.

Foxglove blooms come in colorful spikes such as pink, white, peach, red and purple. They’re late spring to mid-summer bloomers in zones 4 to 9. Foxglove is a traditional flower that is often included in English gardens.

Ornamental grasses make a great addition to any outdoor space. They add texture, movement and sound, plus many varieties grow tall enough to form a privacy border in your yard. Cut the grass back after the last flush of color but before they come out of dormancy.

Stargazer lilies love full sun and well-drained soil. They reward gardeners with undeniably brilliant blooms and a spicy fragrance. These lilies grow from bulbs, make great cutting flowers for an arrangement and fill a room with fragrance.

There is nothing like the taste of a homegrown tomato. For best results, plant in the spring, tend to any pest issues and water when the soil is dry to the touch. Stake your tomato plants to keep them from falling over, and watch the plants take off.

When the weather warms up, look to plants that can take the heat, including coreopsis. This is a popular one, because it's hard to find combinations of flowering plants that can withstand the heat of summer. Coreopsis grows in clumps. Plant close together to form a border around your flower bed.

With so many textures and colors of flowers and greenery, window boxes not only say “Hello, spring,” but they also bring instant curb appeal. You can purchase a window box that sits directly on your window sill or have a window box installed below a window as a permanent fixture in your garden.