One area where gardening seems to have found a very successful niche is on the TV channels. It wasn't so long ago that the only gardening programme was the seasonal run of Gardener's World, a programme that has been a BBC regular since 1968. Until recent episodes the series always featured the garden of the lead presenter and made famous people like Percy Thrower and Alan Titchmarsh. As the success of Gardener's World increased, other programmes also found large audiences such as Ground Force, The Flying Gardner and Hidden Gardens with Chris Beardshaw and Home Front, where garden designer Diarmuid Gavin was responsible for leading the gardening section.

It wasn't just television that started to inspire people into spending more time gardening at home. Various magazine publications built up large readerships and now the internet has added another medium, with every gardener able to publish their latest projects for everyone to see. It is amazing how many specialist websites exist, covering all kinds of gardening subjects from lawns and borders to hedges, summer blooms and fragrant gardens.

Gardening is one of those hobbies that don't make great demands on those just starting out in terms of technical knowhow and equipment requirements. Even the newest gardener can visit the local garden centre and, after some informed advice and a few simple purchases, can be on the way to creating their garden at home into a new passion and something to be proud of. Of course learning a few gardening basics and gaining a spread of experience will make life a little easier. You can keep costs down by cultivating plants at home from seeds rather than buying pre-grown seedlings which will cost much more. If you are able to dedicate regular periods of time to looking after your garden, then more ambitious projects can be undertaken and problems like weeds and pests can be more easily kept in check.

When you move into a new home you'll nearly always be left with someone else's gardening creation, but with brand new houses these gardens are typically just lawn and nothing more than a tidy starting point. For many people that is all they look for in a garden, but for others it is the perfect "blank canvas" from which to create and develop a more personalised outside space.

A convenient and useful place to start for many is creating a patio area. Making an outside space like this can be as simple as creating a retaining border and spreading some shingle on a firm base. Another common option is to use paving stones while wooden decking has also been very popular. One advantage of decking is that is relatively simple and probably the cheapest route of height differences need to be accommodated, while other types of construction would incur expensive groundwork if different levels need to be taken into account.

For simple lawned gardens, a few shaped flower or shrub borders will make all the difference. These are easily created and can quickly look established by planting mature plants. For that cottage garden look, some well prepared ground and an off-the-shelf seed variety pack is surely one of the simplest gardening options.

Faced with an empty space, some gardeners will decide to try out food production and create a basic vegetable plot. This is a great use of space as even a small plot can provide a healthy proportion of a family's food requirements. Some people will avoid vegetable plots fearing the empty dull view one faces when the crops have all been harvested, but with a little experience and gardening know-how, careful selection of varieties and mixed planting the vegetables can create something altogether more appealing on the eye.

Transforming a dull outside space into an attractive and beautiful area is the reward that awaits all those tempted to try out a little gardening. You don't need any specific training or expensive tools to create a great garden, just a little imagination and some careful planning.