Do you ever wonder why some of the plants you were taking care of died? Usually, for me, it is my fault for not putting the plant in the proper growing conditions for it to thrive. Want to learn more about growing plants in the proper location?

Make a New Year's resolution to learn more about gardening. Resolve to take a gardening class with your local Extension office which is part of your state university. All year long they offer local classes on many gardening subjects. (Don't forget the Greener View YouTube channel has over 300 videos on gardening, landscaping and houseplants.)

Another aspect of the learning process is to go and see what others are doing. If you can't plan your vacation around a garden show, at least visit arboretums and gardens near your destination.

With the start of a new year, we get to reflect on the changes we want to make in our lives. Many gardeners enjoy the seasonal changes in the landscape and enjoy making changes to our gardens. Even in the middle of winter, we are thinking about gardening and planning on making changes as we get each new garden catalog in the mail.

To help your garden and landscape grow better and healthier this year, I have a few more suggested resolutions. Repeat after me:

I resolve to plant more flowers. They will make my life happier, and they will help hummingbirds and honeybees.

I resolve to add at least one shrub to my flower beds to increase the chances of birds nesting in my yard and to decrease the size of the lawn that I have to mow.

I resolve to grow some extra vegetables that can be given away. You can learn more about growing food for your neighbors at gardencomm.org/PAR. This is a program called Plant a Row for the Hungry. It has helped contribute more than 20 million pounds of fresh vegetables to food pantries.

I resolve to add more mulch to my flower beds, which will decrease weeds, saving me money on weed-killers and protecting the environment from useless weed-killer applications.

I resolve to take the money-wasting mulch off the trunks of my trees so that they stop looking like the mountain of mulch is holding the tree up. Mulch piled on tree trunks kills trees, it doesn't help them.

I resolve to save time and money by pruning my trees and shrubs in their natural shapes, not goofy squares and balls.

I resolve to find out what disease or insect is affecting my plant before I pollute my yard with poisons that are used for treating something else. Saying "It can't hurt" isn't really true.

I resolve to mow my grass at a higher height. The longer leaves will support a better root system, so it will need less water and fight off weeds better.

I resolve to start a compost pile and add to it regularly so that I don't have to waste money buying compost to add to my garden.

I resolve to take my power tools and lawnmower for servicing and sharpening. Properly adjusted tools pollute less and sharp tools work better, making them safer.

Lastly, I resolve to enjoy my garden more by eating outside more often, strolling through the yard to smell the flowers without pulling any weeds, and having at least one party with family and friends over to enjoy the garden too.

Photo credit: at Unsplash