These pages are only intended to give you a brief introduction to the history of gardening, in the early American Colonies. In colonial times a garden was a necessity for survival to the early colonist, not for pleasure or relaxation as is often the case today.

With most of the country being untamed wilderness, the first step was clearing the land of trees. Cutting down the trees was relatively easy compared to removing the stumps, which had to be either pulled out, dug out or burned out. These were not easy tasks, given the primitive tools they had available.

For most early settlers, their gardens were a place to grow vegetables for food and herbs for medicinal purposes. If they were fortunate enough to have brought any of their favorite flower seeds along with them, they were also planted in the garden.