Overview

Getting started with garden.gg takes about five minutes. By the end of this guide, you will have a garden with at least one plot and your first plants placed on the grid. Everything you set up here can be changed later, so do not worry about getting it perfect on the first try.

Sign Up

Create your account at garden.gg. Registration is free and does not require a credit card. You can sign up with:

• Email and password: Standard registration with email verification
• Google: One-click OAuth sign-in
• Apple: Sign in with Apple (available on iOS and web)

After signing up, you land on an empty dashboard. Your first step is to create a garden.

Create a Garden

Click New Garden on the dashboard (or tap the + button on mobile). You will be asked for a few pieces of information:

Garden Name

Choose a descriptive name for your garden. This is entirely for your own organization. Examples:

• “Backyard Garden”
• “Community Plot #47”
• “Apartment Balcony”
• “Indoor Grow Room”

Location

Set the approximate location of your garden. This is used for weather data integration and planting calendar calculations. You can enter a city name, zip code, or use your device’s location services. The location is never displayed publicly unless you opt in.

USDA Hardiness Zone

Your hardiness zone determines frost dates and planting windows. garden.gg will attempt to auto-detect your zone based on your location, but you can override it manually.

If you do not know your zone, enter your zip code and garden.gg will look it up for you. Zones range from 1a (coldest) to 13b (warmest) in the United States, and equivalent zones are supported internationally.

Visibility

Choose whether your garden is public or private:

• Public: Other garden.gg users can view your garden layout and event history. Great for community gardens or sharing your progress.
• Private: Only you can see your garden. This is the default and can be changed later.

Example

Here is what creating a garden looks like via the API:

POST /api/v1/gardens
{
  "name": "Backyard Veggie Garden",
  "location": "Portland, OR",
  "hardiness_zone": "8b",
  "visibility": "private"
}

Response:

{
  "id": "gdn_abc123",
  "name": "Backyard Veggie Garden",
  "location": "Portland, OR",
  "hardiness_zone": "8b",
  "visibility": "private",
  "created_at": "2026-03-15T10:30:00Z"
}

Add Your First Plot

A garden without plots is just a name. Plots represent the physical growing areas within your garden. Click Add Plot inside your new garden to get started.

Plot Types

Choose the type that matches your real-world setup:

Dimensions

Enter the dimensions of your plot in feet or meters. garden.gg uses these to:

• Generate the grid layout for plant placement
• Calculate square footage for yield-per-area analytics
• Suggest optimal plant spacing

For containers, you can enter the diameter or length and width. For irregular shapes, use the closest rectangular approximation.

Soil Type

Select your soil type to help with watering and amendment recommendations:

• Sandy: Drains quickly, warms fast, needs more frequent watering
• Clay: Retains moisture, slow to warm, may need drainage amendments
• Loam: Ideal balance of drainage and moisture retention
• Silt: Fine texture, retains moisture well
• Peat: Acidic, high organic matter, common in raised beds
• Custom Mix: For container gardens or amended beds, describe your mix in the notes

Sun Exposure

How much direct sunlight does this plot receive?

• Full Sun: 6+ hours of direct sunlight per day
• Partial Sun: 4-6 hours of direct sunlight
• Partial Shade: 2-4 hours of direct sunlight
• Full Shade: Less than 2 hours of direct sunlight

This information drives plant recommendations. Sun-loving tomatoes will show a warning if placed in a partial shade plot.

Irrigation Method

Optionally record how you water this plot:

• Manual (hose/watering can)
• Drip irrigation
• Sprinkler
• Self-watering container
• None/Rain-fed

Example

Creating a plot via the API:

POST /api/v1/gardens/gdn_abc123/plots
{
  "name": "Raised Bed #1",
  "type": "raised_bed",
  "width_feet": 4,
  "length_feet": 8,
  "soil_type": "loam",
  "sun_exposure": "full_sun",
  "irrigation": "drip"
}

Add Plants to Your Plot

With a plot created, it is time to add plants. Click Add Plant inside your plot or use the search bar to find plants in the database.

Searching the Plant Database

garden.gg includes a database of over 200 plants with variety-specific data. Search by common name, scientific name, or variety:

• “Tomato” shows all tomato varieties
• “Cherokee Purple” finds that specific tomato variety
• “Basil” shows sweet basil, Thai basil, lemon basil, and more

Each plant entry includes:

• Days to germination
• Days to maturity
• Recommended spacing
• Planting depth
• Sun and water requirements
• Companion planting compatibility

Setting the Plant Date

When you add a plant, record when it was planted. This drives lifecycle tracking and harvest projections. You can choose:

• Sowed today: Sets the plant date to today, starts the germination countdown
• Transplanted today: For seedlings started elsewhere, sets the plant date and skips the germination phase
• Custom date: Backfill a plant that was put in the ground earlier in the season

Placing Plants on the Grid

Each plot has a grid layout based on its dimensions. After adding a plant, drag it to its position on the grid. The grid helps you:

• Visualize spacing between plants
• See companion planting compatibility at a glance (green borders = good companions, red = bad)
• Plan successive plantings by seeing what is where

You can place multiple plants of the same variety by adding them individually or using the Quick Add button to place several at once.

Quick-Add Feature

The quick-add feature lets you rapidly populate a plot. Instead of going through the full form for each plant:

1. Click Quick Add in your plot
2. Search for a plant variety
3. Click cells on the grid to place plants
4. Click Done when finished

This is especially useful for crops planted in rows, like lettuce, carrots, or radishes.

Understanding the Dashboard

After creating your garden, plots, and plants, your dashboard comes to life. Here is what you will see:

Garden Overview

A summary card for each garden showing:

• Total plots and plants
• Recent events
• Current streak status
• Quick-log buttons for common actions

Today’s Tasks

Based on your plants and their lifecycle stages, garden.gg suggests daily tasks:

• Plants that need watering based on your logging frequency
• Upcoming harvest windows
• Fertilizer schedules
• Seasonal to-dos based on your hardiness zone

Activity Feed

A chronological feed of all events across your gardens. See what you have been up to and what you might have missed.

Tips for Getting Started

Start Small

If this is your first season with garden.gg, do not try to model every plant in your garden on day one. Start with one plot and a handful of plants. Get comfortable with event logging and expand from there.

Set Your Hardiness Zone

Your hardiness zone drives planting calendars, frost date warnings, and seasonal recommendations. Taking a moment to set it correctly pays off throughout the season.

Use the Quick-Add Feature

When planting a bed of lettuce or a row of beans, quick-add saves significant time. Place all your plants on the grid in seconds instead of filling out forms one by one.

Enable Notifications

Turn on push notifications on your mobile device to get reminders about:

• Watering schedules
• Approaching harvest windows
• Streak reminders before midnight
• Frost warnings for your zone

Explore Public Gardens

Before building your own layout, browse public gardens from other users in your zone. You can see their plot configurations, plant choices, and harvest results to get ideas for your own garden.

What to Do Next

Now that your garden is set up, it is time to start tracking your daily activity:

• Logging Events: Learn how to record watering, harvests, and other garden activities
• Understanding Gamification: See how your events translate into XP, levels, and badges
• Plots & Plants: Deep dive into advanced plot management and the plant database

Common Questions

Can I change my garden’s zone later?

Yes. Go to your garden’s settings and update the hardiness zone at any time. Planting calendars and recommendations will update immediately.

How many gardens can I create?

The free Sprout plan includes 2 gardens. Bloom allows 10, and Harvest is unlimited. Most home gardeners find 2 gardens sufficient (one outdoor, one indoor).

Can I delete a plot without losing its history?

You can archive a plot instead of deleting it. Archived plots retain their full event history and harvest data but are hidden from the active dashboard. You can restore an archived plot at any time.

What if my plant is not in the database?

You can add custom plant entries with your own variety name and growing data. If you think the plant should be in the standard database, submit a request through the app and we will review it for inclusion.