Hello Garden Vets! I am new to this craft and want to know- what is the best common sense tip you can give to a beginning gardener? I know it's broad, but I can use any tips on fruit trees, flowers, and veggies. Can you believe I had to do research to learn I needed to pollinate female zuchs with male zuchs and couldn;t tell which was which? See- no advice is too obvious for me! LOL
Best tip I can give you is to find out what will grow in your zone/area and plant that. You don't say where you live so we really can not be more specific than that. For instance.....only Apple trees with very little or no chill requirement can be grown where I am. I would suggest that you go to your local garden centers and wander through to see what they are offering. Sticking with local native plants will provide a more successful gardening experience whether you are growing edibles or lovely perennials.
That is a great tip... I guess I am not growing mangos any time soon then... I live in sonoma county... Good for grapes not so good for tropical fruits? Awe!
start small. Don't overplant and get overwhelmed with keeping up...(with the weeds). Give each plant the space it needs, don't crowd them too much. Mulch, mulch, mulch. Buy quality tools. They will last a long time and work better for you. keep your blades sharp...shovels, hand pruners, knives etc. a dull tool is an accident waiting to happen. I had an old bread knife that didn't cut anything in the kitchen so I relegated it to the flower bed to dig out weeds. I kept it snugged up against the rock wall until I raked my thumb across it one day spreading compost. I cut the artery and needed it stitched up...oops!
Don't listen to people who don't garden. You'll get a ton of advice from folks that "heard" or "my grandpa did it this way". Gardening is fun. You'll find yourself smiling at a bud, giggling at a dragonfly, and laughing out loud frequently. Enjoy your garden, the best advice of all!
Prepare your soil with good fertilizer/compost and feed at appropriate times. Case in point, I recently planted some cantaloupes. The area they were going in was in a low spot, so I raised it using store-bought garden soil and added a bag of my home-made compost. Those are growing great and really producing. I put a left-over plant just on it's own straight in the ground. No prep. It's straggly and hasn't produced one fruit.
Those tips are all right on the money! Some of those tips I had to learn the hard way and some... well they explain some of the obstacles I am trying to overcome with my new garden. The advice is so solid. A huge learning tip for me was to be careful not to overwater! as a newbie I think I was so focused on not underwatering that I am still learning to get the balance right. Who knew something seemingly so simple like watering could be the toughest part for me? I am working on getting a drip line in.
Proper watering is so crucial. When I would see a droopy plant, I'd automatically think it was thirsty and give it a drink. I literally drowned one of my Luna Hibiscus. Now, I stick my finger in the ground to make sure that's the case before grabbing the water bucket. So you're not alone... you just have to learn your plants' requirements. Same goes for the amount of sun they get.
You got awesome advice here. The only other thing I can offer is when in doubt, ask here I do that so frequently that its my second nature now.
Get to know your plants. Of course start with research, but remember, you can do lots of research, but it may not be enough. I'm better with indoor potted plants than outdoor, but my best example is my African Violet. I learned from it that you cannot always keep to a set schedule. I would water it on a schedule and after a while, I would find that it didn't drink all of the water. I would have to wait a little longer before watering it again. Other times it would be really thirsty. You just have to keep an eye on them and "get to know their temperaments and moods". That is the best way I can describe it. Some plants can be quite temperamental and moody. As for outdoors, stay on top of the weeding! The more often you weed, the easier it is. If you let it get ahead of you, it will turn into a time-consuming, difficult chore.
I wish I had asked this question before starting my garden, but I will be keeping these posts close at hand. It has been such a delight and such a huge learning curve - watering, zone hardiness, fertilizing, pruning, pest control or not to control, spacing, staking... These are all things I am trying to get a handle on. Thanks for helping with some basics!
Everyone is giving you such good advice! My advice in one word is patience. You can't do it all at once.
Very good point, Kay! Patience is key! And the gardner's mantra: There's always next season! One other thing I wanted to mention for outdoor gardening: draw out your plan It is very helpful, but you can always fit more on the paper than you can in reality. I use a garden planner program and it gives a more realistic picture of what can fit in the garden than if I were to use my own pencil and paper. I aced bin packing, but for your garden's health, and your own sanity, leave plenty of walking space and air space. I still am trying to learn how to do that!
I have never forgotten one piece of advice that a friend/experienced gardener gave me, which aligns perfectly with the advice given here to be patient. Actually it's more a mantra than advice, and I've learned how true it is. Sleep....creep.....leap! That's what perennials do, for the first three growing seasons. That first year, when you so badly want to see in your garden what's in your mind's eye....and nothing of any particular consequence happens. So then next year, as you look forward to finally realizing your dream garden, and your plants STILL aren't showing the way you expect. They're certainly doing better than last year, but not what you were hoping for. And then finally, season three, and the plants just EXPLODE!! Gorgeous, full foliage, beautiful flowers, stunning color...and there you go, the culmination of your sometimes impatient patience.
