The Beginner's Garden, Phase 8:

If you were a beginner last year, and some of your plants are still alive, then you are an intermediate now.

Readers who have never had a garden or have barely ever touched the soil, and who'd like to start out this year, can find instructions on preparing and filling a small flowerbed here. You'll have the thrill of having improved a piece of earth, and you'll have some flowers to cut for yourself or friends. I'm available to coach you over hard parts ().

Intermediates, the trick to the spring cleanup is not to step on things you planted last year and grew to love. It's also better not to step on the soil in the bed; your plants' roots like their earth airy and not compacted. This should be pretty easy because your bed is relatively narrow.

The early spring tasks are to pick up dead leaves and various bits of litter. You will note there are weeds, looking fresh and pretty this time of year. You will also note that the weeds seem to have gotten a serious head start on your ornamental plants. As insects are to man, weeds are to nursery plants. The insects and weeds succeed by reproducing fast, turning over many more generations.

In your small garden, as in other realms, there is a fine balance between hope and despair. The tiny green shoots you'll see growing at the center of your perennials are the embodiment of hopefulness. If you have a sunny garden and planted some of the aromatic plants, like nepeta and achillea (catmint and yarrow), you'll notice that they already have their distinctive scent. If you're in the shade garden category, you'll probably find some mint exuding.

Last year's annual plants should be complete goners, unless you live in the Deep South. If they are goners, pull them up. One of the cheaper pleasures of gardening is to go to the nursery and buy a few six-packs of annual flowering plants. Check to see if your area has had its last freeze.

Our next step, in next month's column, will be to plant a shrub. Look at the Web site of your local botanic garden to see what you like and what does well in your climate. The bible for professional gardeners is Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs by Michael A. Dirr. It costs $69.95, but any good nursery should have it available for browsing. Equally useful, for those in the South (and increasingly for everyone else in the continental United States) is Dirr's Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates.

Think about a site for your shrub, keeping in mind this major garden principle: Consider what it will look like in 10 years.