Simply Smart Gardening – Garden Smart, Not Hard

You want more time to enjoy your garden.

But you don’t know where to start.

And at times, you feel frustrated and overwhelmed.

Intimidated, even.

Growing your dream garden doesn’t have to be a tiring, thorny time-suck.

You can feel confident and proud of your garden…

Even if your garden is in open rebellion, with beds ruled by weedy overlords or total plant anarchy where only the hardiest survive.

The solution is to garden smart, not hard.

And it’s easier than you think!

Meet Cheryl Spencer, Your Fairy Garden Mother

Cheryl Spencer, certified gardener

Hi! I’m Cheryl.

I’m a certified gardener born with a plant addiction that has no cure.

I believe you can grow your dream garden and still have time to enjoy it – no matter how busy you are.

That’s why I created Simply Smart Gardening. To help you grow a garden that’s manageable, wows your neighbors, and makes your family say, “more veggies, please!”

I’ve been seen on…

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🌻You can grow your dream garden AND have time to enjoy it!

Here’s why gardeners love Simply Smart Gardening…

Growing a beautiful, productive garden is a grand adventure…

Where should we go first?

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Gardening Basics

Get the help you need to start gardening like an expert. No experience required!

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Ornamental Gardens

Discover how to grow and care for your flowers and ornamental plants
like a pro.

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Edible Gardens

Learn how to grow vegetables, fruit, and herbs you and your family will enjoy.

You’ll find even more help and resources in the shop.

Garden smarter with my most popular digital products and courses.

what to do when checklists

Get the right things done at the right time.

What To Do When: Monthly Checklists for Busy Gardeners

Take the stress, overwhelm, and guesswork out of gardening with these done-for-you checklists.

smart garden journal

Beautifully organize and track all your gardening info.

Smart Garden Journal Pages

Quickly and easily find the important information you need to grow a successful garden every year! Buy once, use forever.

small space, big harvest gardening course logo

Grow more, work less.

Small Space, Big Harvest

The course for busy gardeners who want to grow a wildly productive vegetable garden without all the weeding, watering, or worrying.

Looking for gardening answers?

These popular blog posts are a great place to start.

gardening venn diagram of gardening happiness

Low Maintenance Gardening

You want a beautiful garden, but you don’t want to spend all your free time pulling weeds, dragging your hose around from plant to plant, or drowning Japanese beetles in soapy water to keep them off your roses. Maybe you’re busy with work, a family, and piles of laundry, or you’re…
lettuce grown with square foot spacing

Square Foot Garden Spacing for Big Harvests (+Free Chart)

If you’re new to vegetable gardening, have a limited amount of space, or are tired of sweating in the hot summer sun as you swat mosquitos and pull weeds, square foot gardening is for you. Square foot gardening is a high-yield intensive gardening method that helps you get a lot of…
spinach growing in a square foot garden

How to Grow Tons of Fresh Spinach [Even If You Don’t Have Much Space]

Thanks to the popularity of square foot gardening, the idea of growing food in a small and efficient space has taken hold. And spinach is one of the best vegetables to get you started with square foot gardening. Spinach is an easy-to-grow salad green that produces large yields of vitamin-rich,…
old mining cart filled with pumkins

November Gardening: What You Need to Do This Month

A trusty leaf rake is my constant companion this month. No matter how often I’ve said to myself after raking up an area “This looks great! I’m glad I’m done with that,” I’m never done. The wind will see to that. More leaves blow in from all
soil test form with pen, trowel, and soil sample on a gold background

How to Test Your Soil Like an Expert

Garden soil seems mysterious, doesn’t it? It never hops up says, “hey, I’ve got a problem!” No, it just sits there waiting for you to figure out why your tomatoes have blight, your grass isn’t as green as you’d like, or your hydrangeas aren’t periwinkle blue like the ones you’ve…

And here are some recent gardening ideas.

lupines growing in a weed-free garden surrounded by mulch

The Best Mulch to Prevent Weeds

After years of gardening, I thought I had it all figured out. But then came what I call “The Summer of the Weeds.” If growing weeds was an Olympic sport, my garden would’ve taken home the gold! It was a humbling reality check. And it led me straight to my new best friend… The best…
a gardener succession planting lettuce

Succession Planting: The Best Way to Grow a Continuous Harvest

Ever wished you could hit the “pause” button on the rollercoaster ride of veggie harvests? I get it – the struggle is real when everything ripens at the same time! In. One. Big. Harvest. There’s got to be a better way. Right? Imagine enjoying a steady supply of your favorite…
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