Easy, straightforward gardening information.

The purpose of Simply Easy Gardening is to live up to its name: helping people garden easier. No fluff, no long meandering stories about unrelated things.

Just gardening information. To the point, without annoying popups constantly begging for your email address.

(If you do want emails updating you about new articles, you can click the button below or on any article.)

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Gardening Tips from an Experienced (Slightly Obsessed) Gardener

We’ve all seen it. Gardening information written by someone (or, at this point, an AI chatbot) who has clearly never done any of this.

That’s not what you’ll get here. Hi. I’m Colleen Vanderlinden. I’ve been gardening for nearly 25 years and started writing about it on my original blog, In the Garden Online, in the early 2000s.

Since then, I’ve published dozens of articles both in print and on various websites about how to garden better, easier, and while sticking to a budget. I’m also the co-author of two books about gardening, Edible Gardening for the Midwest and Vegetable Gardening for the Midwest, both published by Lone Pine Publishing.

If this site isn’t as slick-looking as others, or the photography looks amateurish… that’s because I’m not a designer or photographer. Just a gardener and garden writer sharing what she knows, hoping it’s useful.

My Gardens

I’ve gardened in Zones 4-6 in Michigan, in heavy clay soils, sandy soil, containers, raised beds, traditional garden beds, indoors and outdoors, under lights on a small shelf, in suburban lots, and on a 10-acre homestead. Wherever I’ve lived, I’ve grown a garden.

lettuce growing in a hanging basket
A suburban garden with large tomato plants
A flower garden with irises, coneflowers, and ornamental grasses

What You’ll Find Here

Black eyed susan flowers growing against a picket fence.

Easy-to-Grow Plant Lists

Low-maintenance gardening starts with growing the right plant in the right place. I’ll provide plenty of ideas for easy-to-grow plants for any situation.

A round red tomato growing in a garden.

Gardening Tips and Tricks

But not, like, quack, woo-woo tips and tricks. Actual tips that work, backed by science or widespread anecdotal effectiveness.

Brassicas leaf with holes in it.

Gardening Solutions

Every gardener runs into a pest, weed, or plant disease that they just can’t seem to get rid of. I’ll share simple, science-backed solutions to get rid of them for good.