Get growing with these garden tips

What do you do if you want a lush garden but don’t have the knack? plants some ideas to get you growing.

My nana is an incredible gardener. Her vege garden is an endless cycle of luscious leaves, trees, roots and fruits, constantly changing depending on the seasons.

For every dinner she cooks, there’s something in it that she picked fresh from the garden an hour ago. Don’t even get me started on her flower garden or the cute little rockery that surrounds the fish pond down at the bottom of her section.

Mymuminherited nana’s green fingers. I, on the other hand, did not. I dream of a bountiful vege garden just like my nana’s, but reality reminds me that my attention span isn’t that great. Gardening takes a lot more effort than I can muster, and besides, nothing’s going to get me out there with a watering can and a trowel when Game of Thrones is on. Still, there’s a big part of me that wishes I had the stamina for gardening.

I dream of the classic quarteracre block with a big house and an even bigger garden filled to overflowing with enough fresh produce for my family and my neighbours. Not killing everything I touch would be good too.

Fortunately there are options when it comes to gardening for people like me who don’t have green fingers. Cacti and succulents are easy. They thrive even when you forget to water them. Some, like aloe vera plants, can be used for medicinal purposes. Others, like venus fly traps, can be used to help spiders keep your house clear of nasties (not to mention entertaining/ scaring your kids).

Pot plants are relatively easy to keep alive too. Of course they need a bit more TLC than the hardy cactus, but generally speaking a pot plant can look after itself if they’re positioned in such a way that the rain can water them and the daylight can hit them.

Herb gardens are deliciously aromatic and pretty easy for gardening beginners to experiment with. It really doesn’t matter which herbs you go for, they all look lovely potted together in bulk on a balcony or placed in individual pots along your kitchen window sill. The upside of the latter is that you’re more likely to remember to water them if they’re within reach of the kitchen sink.

And while ‘garden’ implies some sort of foliage, contemporary backyards often buck the trend. Transform your garden into a stylish entertainment area with big paving stones, river stones, fancy lighting and a fire pit, and you’ll never have to worry about killing another plant again. If you just have to have some greenery in there, keep a few strips of lush lawn. Add a simple water feature and you’ve got yourself a garden that’s low in maintenance and oozing in suburban style.