Practice makes plants perfect
Baking often looks nothing like the recipe picture – the same is true with gardening, explains
Even if you follow a recipe to the letter, the result can emerge looking nothing like the picture. But with practice you start to build knowledge, and you pick up those passeddown tips and tricks that seem to make all the difference in arriving at a delicious success or disappointing failure.
The same can be said for gardening. As a beginner, I have slowly collected the tips and tricks below, generally as a result of disaster. Most gardening books don’t spell out what might be deemed ‘‘gardening common sense’’, presuming you know if you are reading those pages. In an attempt to ease some pain for my fellow new growers, here at some harsh truths I have banked.
Underwatering and overwatering
Both seem to be as brutal as the other and certainly are a blow to your motivation of learning about gardening at all.
The best advice I ever had as a complete beginner was from a great garden centre staff member. When I inquired about care for a certain plant she just said: ‘‘Treat them like your babies.’’ She meant: You can’t just populate your garden then walk away, job done.
Regular check-ins will enable you to nurture your ‘‘plant babies’’ with life’s basics, and this includes monitoring for dehydration and disease via oversaturation.
The easiest way to stay in the safe zone is to actively consider the week’s weather, as you need to water in reaction to it. If it’s very wet, then don’t continue your summer watering routine. Give everything a breather to dry out a little.
If extra hot and dry, then pop out and dip your finger into the soil to the first knuckle. If it feels moist at your fingertip, you are good for another day. If barely damp, it’s time for a good proper soak.
Plants labelled ‘‘full sun’’
I will never escape the vivid memory of my first foray into flower growing resulting in my crop of larkspur growing horizontal to the ground.
They stretched out desperately looking for sunlight from the shady bed I had planted them in.
As you progress and experiment, it’s true you will find those sun-loving plants that don’t mind some moments of shade during the day, but now I don’t bother wasting my money or time trying to change the mind of Mother Nature. As a beginner, read the label and follow the directions.