Gardening has been a part of my life since my early teens. There has always been a plant to tend; always a few seeds to sow; always many weeds to pull; and always a juicy, fresh fruit or succulent vegetable to pick and bite into.

How about you? Are plants a part of your life too? Have you been really successful? Or have you longed for the absolute perfect garden yet, try as you may, found that it hovered just beyond your reach? A great many people have had that same feeling, so near yet, seemingly, so far away. You can achieve the goal which so many other gardeners strive for but only occasionally attain. There are some easy-to-understand tips and methods which if applied, can bring you, and any gardener willing to listen, much closer to that elusive dream garden.

Imagine a very large, strong, wooden gate flanked by a tall fence, much too tall to see over. Now imagine a sign at eye-level which identifies what's on the other side: "Garden." There's a door knob; it turns, but the door won't open. Peering through a tiny hole grants but the skimpiest glimpse of a beautifully landscaped garden with virtually perfect lawns, healthy plants and lovely flowers but you can't get the gate open. It's locked!

Try as you may, the gate simply cannot be forced open. No amount of knocking, pounding or calling out will grant you entrance. You can't climb over it; there's no way to go around it. No amount of spending at nurseries or garden centers will gain you access. Leafing through all the lovely gardening picture books in the world will not pry open that locked gate. Nothing can get you inside except the right keys. Actually, lots of keys for, you see, there are ten locks. Each one takes a separate key, with precisely-ground notches, and the gate will not swing fully open until all ten keys have been acquired, inserted and turned in their locks. While the locks may open in any random sequence, the process is quicker and certainly more rewarding if they're unlocked in a logical, in some cases, responsible, order.

So it is in more than just a few home gardens. There are so many sincere, well-meaning folks who struggle along with one or two, perhaps half or more, of the vital keys to successful gardening, but the gate to their healthy, satisfying, productive and beautiful dream garden never seems to swing fully open for them. Yes, the knowledge and application of each inserted and turned key may allow that garden gate to open a tiny bit, but it takes all ten to swing the door fully open, to do the job right, so elbows, knees, and sensitivities, aren't bruised as the gardener passes through.

A person may have ideal soil and a strong desire, for example, yet without the vital key of a logical plan, no carefully thought out organization, their dream garden eludes them. They might even have found all but one of the keys. Yet failing to apply one of the oft-neglected requirements (faithful, routine maintenance, for example), the gateway to their dream garden refuses to fully open! Few gardeners, indeed, have the patience or are willing to invest the time needed to search out and learn the vital, yet simple, keys to real gardening success and, therefore, satisfaction.

The book you're viewing on a computer screen, or holding in your hands if you chose to print it out, can help you find the keys you need to fully swing open the gate to your dream garden. No, this work doesn't contain all the minutia of detail, or page after page of stunning and inspiring color photography and illustration. Yes, there are many other opinions and divergent gardening philosophies on coffee tables and filling the shelves of libraries and book stores all across the land. Yes, to some degree, most of those ideas and techniques work. Yes, expensive full-color coffee table books of magnificent gardens located halfway around the world make wonderful gifts and may even contain some of the vital keys hidden among the photos. It takes far more than pictures and colorful descriptions, however, to make a truly successful gardener!

What I've tried to accomplish in this work is to gather those necessary keys onto one ring, so to speak, to place them into one volume of hard-hitting, straight-talking, uncompromising facts. I don't believe in beating around the bush, and it has never been my intent to produce a work thick with long lists of recommended plants or flowers. I did not plan to please the senses with a volume overflowing with lovely photographs.

What you'll read here is straight talk, common sense concepts and methods proven by decades of trial and error. It has all been birthed in successes and, yes, tempered by more than a few failures. In short, and most importantly, it works for me and there's nary a reason why it'll fail to work for you. I begin this book certain that some may argue and denounce. I've seen this book to its climax knowing full well, and satisfied, that quite a few things which should have been given wide publicity a long time ago have at last seen the light of day!

So get yourself comfortable and keep a pad and pencil handy to record a few notes. Read to enjoy, but most importantly, read with the goal of improving your chances of gaining access to that perfect garden and, at the conclusion, step into your garden masterpiece by inserting each of these important Keys to the Garden Gate. 

Proceed to Key Number 1: A Firm Foundation—Soil Basics