Gardening for Beginners - Tips and Tricks

Gardening for Beginners – Tips and Tricks will give you advice from those who have already been in the garden trenches and lived to tell the stories.

“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.” – Alfred Austin

In one of my gardening groups, the question was asked – “Best advice you would give a beginner gardener is…?” The answers were brilliant.

Seasoned gardeners imparted their best tips and tricks to the question.

I thought my readers would love to know these gardening lessons for beginners. I put together the best answers for you in this post.

Since you love gardening, I created a Facebook group called Creating a Cozy Life with over 4,000 like-minded souls.

It’s a group where we share recipes, pictures of things that leave you in awe, and ideas on how to make your life just a little bit more snug. Join here to be part of the virtual cozy cabin.

Here are the Gardening for Beginners – Tips and Tricks:

1) Start with a small Garden.

You don’t have to go gang-busters right out of the gate. It’s exciting to start something new, but gardening is a long game.

Becoming overwhelmed is easy if you do too much at once.

2) One gardening project at a time.

Start with one thing and become a master of it. Then move on to the next thing.

3) Never give up.

Everything you do is a learning experience. It takes time to cover all the bases in gardening.

Not every flower will bloom. Try it again and again until you get it right.

4) Plant the right plant in the right place.

Each flower, bush or plant each has its own unique needs. If the plant needs full sun, believe it and place the plant accordingly.

5) Have fun gardening.

You’re going to have some wins and some losses, but learning is part of the fun. Know in advance this isn’t going to be a perfect experiment and you’ll be better off.

6) Stick to a garden schedule.

If you make a plan and follow it, you’ll obviously have more success. Check your plants regularly and water, mulch and feed them on schedule.

7) Build healthy gardening soil.

The soil is where the magic happens. Make sure your soil is the perfect building block for creating your dream garden.

Take a soil test and amend the soil before you do anything else.

8) Mulch like crazy.

Garden mulch is your friend. Use it.

9) Don’t use chemicals.

Learn organic gardening ideas to deter pests by companion planting and natural recipes for keeping pests at bay.

If you go the organic route, you’ll be rewarded with beautiful butterflies and bees.

10) Know your garden zone and what that means.

Growing a garden has different rules, depending on where you live. Knowing what your garden zone is and what that means for your garden is starting your oasis on the right foot.

11) Use native plants from your area.

Native plants are easier to grow than other choices. Talk to your local garden center about native gardening ideas, and you’ll make your life way easier.

12) Learn from other gardeners.

Find local gardening clubs and organizations near you. You can trade plants and seeds with members and absorb their collective wisdom.

I’m moving to a new state at the end of the year, one of the first things I’ve done in preparation for that move is to join the state’s gardening group board on Facebook.

I pop into the group every day, and I’m learning so much about the area already before I even go there!

13) Gardening is never dull.

There’s always something new to learn, which makes this a very interesting hobby. At the same time, it challenges you.

14) Make sure you don’t overwater and underwater your plants.

Finding the perfect balance to keeping your garden happy and healthy is a process.

Know the signs for each plant if they aren’t getting enough water or if they are getting too much water.

15) Don’t expect a magazine cover garden immediately.

Creating a beautiful garden takes time. Be patient.

16) Keep a garden notebook.

Keeping notes on what you plant and each one’s needs will make things easier. Starting a garden notebook can keep you on track.

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17) Learn your garden fertilizers.

Seaweed, fish emulsion, and worm juice are just some of the terms you’ll be learning on your new hobby.

18) Turn your kitchen waste into compost.

Coffee grounds, egg shells, leftover fruits, and vegetables are no longer something you should throw away.

They are pure gold for your garden. Learn why.

20) Nourish your garden early in the morning.

Watering and fertilizing should not happen in the middle of the day. You can burn your plants.

Early morning hours are the best time to water and fertilize your garden.

NEVER water your plants in the hot sun! You’ll burn them.

21) Always wear gardening gloves.

Your hands need protection. Wearing garden gloves is an essential step in gardening safety.

Make sure you purchase gardening gloves that fit your hands, avoid big, bulky garden gloves.

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22) Buy the correct gardening tools.

Find good-quality garden tools and take care of them. After deciding how big of a garden you’ll be starting with, then research the best tools for the job. 23

23) Experience all the seasons of your garden before making big plans.

If you’re able to wait a year before making drastic changes to your yard, this would be a smart plan.

During that time, you would test and amend the soil, learn what the shade patterns of your garden are, and identify the plants you want to grow and what they require.

24) Don’t plant your plants too close together.

Make sure you realize how large the plants and trees you pick will grow before planting. You don’t want to have to move things around after they’ve become established because they outgrew the space.

25) Start with inexpensive plants to begin your journey.

You don’t want to spend a lot of money at the beginning of gardening until you realize what works and what doesn’t.

One of my most expensive lessons was all the rose trees I bought. I envisioned rose trees dotting my landscape, so I went overboard and bought ten pricey trees.

Not one of those trees survived a year. All my rose bushes did live. I still don’t know why they died, but I learned a very valuable lesson.

I saw what worked in my yard and planted more of those plants and bushes.

26) Buy a good quality garden stool.

This purchase will help save your back and knees from wear and tear. It will be one of the best gardening purchase you make.

27) Become a seed saver.

Not only will you save money by saving your seeds, but you’ll also create an even closer bond with all of your plants because you’re part all the seasons of the plants.

28) Visit your garden every day.

Enjoy the changes your garden will go through as your garden flourishes. Do everything with love and your garden will respond in kind.

You might even want to document the progress with photos. You’ll be happy you did once your skill set improves. There will be evidence that you too were once a beginner!

29) A small garden doesn’t have to be boring.

You can create a themed garden, section your garden off into rooms, or even fill your space with container gardening.

Adding birdbaths, statuary, arbors, and lattice dividers can all add “wowza” to any garden.

30) Take a walk around your neighborhood and look at the gardens.

Get some fresh air and look at your neighborhood in a different light. Your new mission is to see what type of plants are doing well and to find out what garden look you like.

An extra bonus of this tactic is you can strike up conversations with your neighbors and gather more wisdom and even start new friendships.

31) Be patient with your garden.

Probably the number one response to the question was to be patient with gardening. Realize that killing a few plants is a normal part of the process, but the rewards outweigh the frustrations.

32) Gardens are a constantly changing canvas.

Your garden will evolve over time after you give your plants time to grow. Just because your garden doesn’t look the way you want it right now, doesn’t mean it isn’t going to turn into an oasis that you’ll love.

33) Label all your garden plants.

Over time you probably won’t remember what you planted, so take the time to label your plants.

Visitors to your garden will be guaranteed to ask what type of plants you have, so make it easy on yourself by labeling everything right out of the gate.

34) Group garden plants together that have the same nutritional and watering needs.

Make things easy on yourself by saving yourself a few steps.

35) Watch gardening channels on YouTube!

Gardeners’ World on YouTube was frequently mentioned as a favorite channel.

36) Wear sunblock and a hat when you garden.

Protect yourself from the sun. You know the drill.

37) Deadhead your garden plants frequently.

When you deadhead your plants, you’re encouraging new growth. Read up on each plant and how you often you do this.

38) Be careful about your selection of trees you plant.

Not only do you have to know how large the tree gets, but you also need to educate yourself on the root system of the tree.

You don’t want tree roots to cause damage to the foundation of your home. Remember that even a 30-foot tree was once a tiny sapling.

39) Educate yourself on invasive plant species.

Mint is an herb that will completely take over your garden if you plant it in the wrong place. Find out what plants are garden hogs and either plant them in an area all by themselves or put them in containers.

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40) Buy a book that goes through the gardening year month-by-month.

A good resource like a monthly gardening to-do list is invaluable for such a low cost. It’s like having your own gardening coach to cheer you on your journey.

41) Learn about the benefits of planting ground cover.

Ground cover protects the roots of your plants, aerates and fertilizes your soil, brings beneficial insects to your garden, and helps keep in the moisture.

42) Remember that some plants go dormant.

Just because a plant doesn’t show signs of life, doesn’t mean it’s dead. Find out if your plant goes dormant during the winter season before discarding the plant.

43) Buy good garden shoes.

This is the fun part. You’ll love the choices they have now for gardening shoes and how comfortable they are.

44) Wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts.

Protect yourself against ticks and mosquitos by covering yourself up.

45) Pay your bills before you go to the garden nursery.

This was my favorite answer, hands down. Why? Because gardening is addicting and once you get started, you might have a real problem keeping your plant buying under control!

We’ve reached the end of Gardening for Beginners – Tips & Tricks. I hope you enjoyed it.

Let me know in the comments below what your favorite ideas were or if you have your own piece of advice you would like to share.

Don’t forget to join the Creating a Cozy Life Facebook group.

Below you will find my other articles on gardening that you might find interesting.

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