Alan starts from scratch with a beginners’ guide to gardening
New to gardening and don’t really know where to begin? Our reader takeover group asked Alan Titchmarsh to share his no-fuss wisdom to get you on the right track
I want to give you the courage to have a go, in the hope your life will be enriched more than you ever imagined
Daunting. Scary. All those long Latin names. It’s no wonder so many people delay making a start on their garden. If you’re coming to it cold, without any experience imparted by parents or grandparents, the whole shebang seems so complex. It’s easier just to let it lie fallow and call it re-wilding.
But to do that is to deprive yourself of the thrill of creating a relaxing haven, an escape from life’s stresses and strains. To germinate a seed or root a cutting, to make a flower border where once ugly weeds grew will lift your spirits like no other activity. Just remember that 90 per cent of gardening is based on common sense and observation and you will at least feel emboldened to make a start.
Over the next 12 months I’ll take you by the hand and lead you through what might seem like a minefield of confusion. Knowing what I’ve got out of being a gardener for the past seven decades means I simply can’t keep that enthusiasm and passion for growing things to myself. It really isn’t rocket science. It’s far more important than that, both to us as individuals and to the planet we occupy. Gardening has a long-term impact on individuals and their surroundings that is impossible to overestimate.
Above all, remember that as well as being a place to share with wildlife, and a modest way of helping to do your bit for the greening of the environment, your garden is there to please you. Being a thoughtful and considerate gardener as far as nature is concerned is vital, but we garden for our own pleasure and enrichment too, and I see no reason to apologise for that.
What do you want?
Think about what sort of gardener you want to be. Do you want to grow a particular kind of plant, or do you want a bit of this and that? Do you want to learn how to grow plants from seeds and how to root cuttings, or are you happy simply to buy and plant things and give them the best chance of survival?
Consider what sort of garden you want: do you want to simply sit in it and admire the view, or do you want to grow your own
To germinate a seed, root a cutting or make a flower border will lift your spirits like no other activity
food? How much time – and money – can you spare? For goodness sake don’t land yourself with a millstone that eats up all your resources and causes you to regret ever starting out on what should be an exciting voyage of discovery.
So many questions, but then you will very quickly know the answers that will govern your approach to that patch of land outside your back door, or even on your balcony, doorstep or windowbox. Gardening is possible in the tiniest of spaces, as any weed growing in a crack in the pavement will tell you.
Every now and again you’ll find yourself over-faced by the mass of information available. Don’t expect to remember everything. Knowing where to find that information when you need it
is key, and with this magazine, as well as books, TV programmes and the internet, there is always a way of answering a question. The difficulty comes when there are several answers. In such cases, shrug and give one of them a go. Avoid being bossed around by those with entrenched ideas. My mum would listen patiently when I came home from college and told her she was doing some gardening operation in quite the wrong way. She would smile indulgently and go on doing things her way, having learned what worked for her. There is often more than one route to success.
All I want to do over the next year is to give you the courage to have a go, in the fervent hope that your life will be enriched far more than you ever imagined. Good luck!
On a doorstep or windowbox, gardening is possible in the tiniest of spaces