Hey everyone! So for those of you who might be interested, I have decided to start a gardening project with my boyfriend. You see, I’ve always wanted to grow plants and have a flourishing garden of some sorts that I can show off to people and use for my cooking. Unfortunately, I’ve never quite gotten passed wanting to do it. I always stopped just short of starting it, but now I have decided to stop avoiding it and ignite my green thumb. What I’m realising now that I’ve started this project is how many choices and how much work goes into gardening, especially when you are an amateur. So, after discovering these tips after getting my own gardening project going, I’d like to share some of those tips with all of you. If any of you have ever wanted to start a gardening project but just haven’t done so (maybe you didn’t have time, the idea kind of dulled or things just didn’t work out the way you wanted), then I hope this blog inspires you and reignites that desire to sprout your green thumb (pun intended). So, for all of the fellow beginner-gardeners out there, here are some tips I have learned that I hope help you out and get your gardens going. I hope you enjoy it!
Start small
You might be incredibly ambitious to plant dozens of different plants just because you have got the buzz and can’t wait to see your garden growing. Believe me, I understand that impulse but let me tell you that it is not a good one to buy into. The key to success is to remember that you need to walk before you can run. In gardening terms, you need to start out small before you can move on to growing the whole fresh produce part of your diet for yourself and your family. If this is your first garden, rather start out small so that you can test things out, get a feel for everything and figure out what needs to be done. It’s far better to start small and then get bigger and more impressive with your garden than to start huge, and things do not turn out the way you want.
Start easy
Along with starting small, another tip that I would suggest is to start out with things that are easy to grow. I know that that might seem like it takes the fun out of it, but trust me, it is a good idea. I once thought that I would be able to plant and grow a bonsai tree from scratch when I almost always forgot to water the plant in my room and the last time I grew something was in prep school (we all had to grow beans). Nothing grew, and it was very demoralising, but the reason why is because I didn’t start out easy. Starting out easy (with basic vegetables, herbs or succulents) is a good idea because it allows you the safety bubble to learn about gardening more than stressing about taking care of challenging plants. Remember, there is nothing wrong with starting out easy. And if starting easy means you get to grow something and see the result of your work rather than stressing and stressing to see no results, then starting out easy definitely seems like the better choice.
Plant things you actually like
Here’s a question for you – do you prefer cooking items that you actually enjoy eating or things that you just have to make because you are cooking for friends? Or how about this one – do you prefer doing work or studying for something that you enjoy and find interesting or for something that you find boring and are just doing because it is required? Well, I’m sure that most of you will pick the one you find interesting right? Well, this same logic applies to the choices you make for what you decide to plant and grow. When you are picking the few, easy things you want to start out with, choose items that you know you will enjoy. So if you don’t like tomatoes, then don’t plant them and instead plant something else like a succulent. You want the gardening to be fun, and a definite way to make it fun is to plant things that you will enjoy growing and will enjoy seeing the result of.
Plant according to your climate
This is a big tip that I cannot stress enough. There have been quite a few times where I have planted things ambitiously thinking that they would grow only to discover that nothing is happening. What I didn’t realise is that the plants I was choosing were not right for my climate but also not right for the season that I had planted them in. One way to easily mess up your gardening ambitions is to plant things in a climate that they are not suited for, but also at a time of year that is not right for them. So, make sure that when you choose your plants, you pick ones that can grow well in your climate but that you also plant them in the correct season. That is one of the best (and easiest) ways to make sure that your planting starts out successful.
Learn about your plants
It is always essential to learn about your plants, and also things like weeds. There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of tending your seedlings into plants, but the only way you can do this properly is if you become familiar with what individual plants look like as seedlings. That way you know not to pull out all your hard work because you mistakenly thought it was a weed. Learning your plants is also crucial so that you know how to tend to them properly and don’t end up over-watering them or not giving them enough sun exposure. I know it seems dull and like a waste of time, but there is no easy way to get around this. If you don’t know about what you are planting, it is far easier for you to make mistakes and end up ruining all of your hard work. So, take my advice and just do a little extra research about your plants. You won’t regret it when everything is growing strong and healthy.
Invest in the good stuff
You can’t just dump a bunch of seeds in a random patch of soil and expect anything to happen. As much as it takes a lot of time to get anything from your seeds, you won’t be able to get to that stage if you haven’t invested in the good stuff. By this, I mean that you need to buy good quality, nice soil that is right for your plants, proper quality tools that won’t break, good fertiliser and other tools/materials you might need for your planting. This is because starting out with good quality raw materials will not only start you out on the right track, but they will also make your gardening life a lot easier. I mean, isn’t it better to invest in proper quality tools than to need to replace them every two weeks? Start by investing in the good stuff … because there isn’t a good reason not to.
Don’t over-water
I know how exciting it feels once you have finished planting. You are just so excited to water things over and over because you don’t want anything to become dehydrated or dried out. Well, unfortunately, you need to resist that temptation because one of the big mistakes that beginner-gardeners make (myself included most definitely) is over-watering our plants. Most plants require a lot less water than we actually think, but the only way to know exactly how much water your plants need is to learn about your plants. Too much water can cause disease but also kill your plants. So only water your plants when it is required, even if you think you need to water them every few hours.
Know what you’re getting into
As fun as gardening can be, it is also quite a bit of work, so it is essential to know what you are getting into. You need to commit to your plants, but luckily the commitment doesn’t require too much effort on your part. All you need to do is remember the little things, like watering when needed, weeding out unwanted plants and tending to seedlings as they grow. Another thing you need to remember when you get into gardening is that plants take time to grow. The first day or two might be exciting because of the novelty, but soon you’ll see that it takes quite a while before you actually start to see results. You need to be patient with your plants because only with patience will you end up seeing the results of your gardening. I will 100% agree that gardening is fun, but it takes commitment and time and patience, and a whole lot else so just remember what you are getting into, and then you will be well on your way to becoming a gardening pro.
And so there you have it! I hope that you all enjoyed today’s blog post and that it was helpful and useful to all of you aspiring and beginner gardeners who are wanting to start a garden but have just needed a little extra help. I also hope that it inspired you all to start your own small gardens (just because it really is fun). For my question of the day:
- Were there any tips I missed?
- Have you had a funny gardening mishap you’d care to share?
Thank you all so much for reading today’s blog post. If you enjoyed it, then please don’t forget to hit that little like button at the bottom of this post and subscribe so that you don’t miss out on future blog posts. But besides all of that gardening advice, that is all I have for you guys today. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Lots of Love
Blondey on a Mission xxx
Tall Blonde Tales 
Good luck and enjoy xxx
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