There's a reason why everything you buy dies. Let's start with the question, "What was the last plant you bought and where did you buy it?"

When you buy a plant from the big box garden centers, it is normally potted in a soil-less mixture. It has been grown either in a greenhouse or a nursery where it is on irrigation and what I refer to as a constant intravenous feeding. It gets little nutrients from the "soil" if any: all its food comes from either supplemental fertilizer feed or is added to the water.

So what do you do?

Look for plant that have been grown in at least a partial soil mixture. This may mean shopping at smaller nurseries or the farmer's markets and talking with the venders. And when you bring your plants home, plan on transitioning them into the garden over the course of several days.

Grow vertical.

Many vegetables can be grown in tight spaces with the aid of a trellis. Tomatoes give higher yields with the xtra support, and squash is just as happy up in the air as down on the ground. With squash off the ground, there's actually less fungus rot to contend with. Squash, cucumbers, many kinds of beans, peas, and even pumpkins can be grown in less space with a sturdy fence or trellis. You can search Pinterest for a ton of trellis ideas just like the one here.

Container Gardening.

Growing your garden in containers offers finite control of the soil mixture and the moisture retention. An added benefit is having the plants closer to eye level where you can better manage insect control and other tasks like training them to a trellis.

Container gardening allows you to place the garden absolutely anywhere like the sunny spot in the middle of the patio. Just make sure you can get the hose to wherever you place the container, or set up a low cost, low maintenance drip irrigation system.

The bigger your container, the better your moisture retention will be in the summer and the better your heat retention will be in the winter.

Start small.

If you've never grown a garden, or you've recently moved to a new climate, container gardening or raised bed planting may be your best answer the first year. Either method will give you finite control over the soil ingredients, better drainage, and ultimately higher yields in a smaller space.

With the advantage of better moisture control, your gardening efforts will be much more rewarding as you explore what works or doesn't work in your particular yard.

Plan Your Space.

Map your space and create an overall plan before you buy the first seed or plant! Planning your space will help you be more realistic with your expectations. Your gardening space needs to be prepared BEFORE you go to the store, because your new purchases need to be planted nearly immediately.

Remember that you're just one person and your garden requires weekly maintenance at a minimum to stay looking nice. So don't plant more stuff than you have time to check on every week. That's also another advantage of container gardening or raised bed gardening: you'll have less weeds so less maintenance.

Be consistent.

Set aside a time every week to tinker in your garden and you'll find yourself so immersed in its rewards, it won't seem like work at all. Share your new interests with a friend and you'll be amazed how chores won't feel like chores at all.

Gardeners are some of the easiest people in the world to start a conversation with. Finding a new gardening friend is easy: they're at the farmer's market, at a community garden, at the garden center, or simply behind that gorgeous flower bed down the street.

Palm Trees Don't Grow In South Dakota . . .

Every school kid knows from first hand experience that plants need sunshine, water and air. But these same kids when they get to college, studying agronomy, find out that there's more to it than that. There are plants that need exact quantities of hours of light, soil nutrients, temperature minimums, air pressure and humidity controls, etc.

So before you blame yourself for problems in the garden, please understand that the exacting needs of particular plants is a big deal.

Study the ideal habitat of each of the plants on your wish list BEFORE you buy them. That palm tree you want won't survive the winter in South Dakota unless you're prepared to build a BIG greenhouse over it. The Medjool Date Palm will grow easily in zone 9 in California, but don't expect the same results in zone 9 in Florida. The sun and the temperature may be the same, but the Medjool likes a dry climate and 54" of rain a year is a killer.

Before you buy your tomato plants, learn from the locals what varieties of tomatoes they've been growing. Tomatoes that grow in the Northeast aren't suited to the South. And what grows in wet Florida isn't going to survive in Arizona without a lot of precious water.