Gardening Tips for Beginning Gardeners

If you are a beginning gardener, don't be afraid to delve right in, as it isn’t meant to be difficult. Once you feel the connection, you’ll be hooked on gardening. If you don't know how to start, there is always an avenue of knowledge for you: gardening neighbors or friends, gardening books and gardening magazines to read, watch for new gardening trends, and the Internet to browse for more information. 

English: old books in Château de Breteuil, France (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At one time, it seemed gardening only appealed to the older folks. But nowadays, people of all ages, children, young adults, adults, and older folks alike enjoy gardening. They see gardening as a refreshing and rewarding hobby. With all the benefits that you get, being a busy, working person should never be used as a hindrance to start growing your own plants indoors or outdoors. You will see the big difference when you get to reap your own fruits of labor.

Would you enjoy a bed of beautiful, colorful flowers, a country garden full of wild flowers and shrubs, manicured lawn strategically placed with shrubs and trees, or just a simple backyard with lots of pots and containers filled with amazing plants? It’s all within your reach to have.  Learn the basics of landscape design.

For a starter, you will need these basic tools: trowel, spade, lawnmower, rake, and plants of your choice to grow. It would help a lot if you have a garden plan based on the space that is available. It will not be difficult to place flowerbeds, lawns, or paths. 

The kinds of garden plants that you will grow will depend on what you want, the availability, and the climate of your location. There are plants that grow only for the season, called annuals, and there are others that can be cultivated to grow year after year, often referred to as perennial. If you consider yourself a hobby gardener, then you would want to have plants that do not grow more than a few seasons. These are perennial plants that allow you to tend to things other than gardening.

If you don't know what plants to start growing, you can always ask assistance from your online plant nursery. The expert staff will know what plants will thrive specifically considering the climate in your area. Also, you can use the Greenwood Nursery Plant Finder online to narrow down your plant search.

The small young plants are great choice if you want to have an automatic decorative display on your garden. 

Smaller, younger plants are easier to plant and require less watering and care to get growing than larger container plants do.

Gardening should be this fun and exciting, and, of course, rewarding, even if you are a beginner. Ready for more? 

Here is a free online gardening course courtesy of BBC Gardener's World. Learn at your own pace.

Learn the basics of landscape design to understand placement of plants and how they are used. 

Gardening Tips for Beginning Gardeners by Greenwood Nursery.

8 Gardening Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Do you realize that gardening mistakes happen right in your front yard? Whether you think that your garden looks good or not, if everything doesn't work together, the entire garden doesn’t work. Let’s talk about the most common gardening mistakes and how to fix them.

Lawn&Garden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. Grass is not greener. This ranks number 1. Why? Most gardens and yards have lawn, but one may be slightly greener than the other. If your lawn looks browner than the soil underneath, it is time to reassess your watering, fertilizing and mowing schedule. Think where you may have gone wrong and make the necessary lawn care adjustments. Tired of lawn care? Consider other lawn substitute options such as ground covers such as periwinkle. Visit Greenwood Nursery for more on lawn substitutes.

2. Tools and clutter are everywhere. They may be useful objects, but if they are just stacked in your garage or tossed in a box, then you think they are not worth the storage. At that point, they don't just look like junk; they are junk. Sort through them one by one and determine whether you want to keep them or not. Your criteria when deciding if they deserve the trip to dump or not is simple: Ask yourself, do you specific plans for them?

3. Your house and garden can be seen from the road. There are several short- and long-term solutions to using plants to create privacy. One quick-fix solution is to build a concrete wall that would separate your garden from the sidewalk view. For a longer, much appealing look, planting fast growing shrubs is a good idea.

4. Weed invasion. Keeping your lawn regularly maintained can solve weed problems. Do a regular walk through to check for weeds about twice a week during the growing season. Dig the weeds out by hand to keep them from re-growing by seeding the empty areas of your lawn.

5. Limited space. If your problem is space, then here's one idea that can definitely help you maximize every square inch of your garden: think vertical gardens. With vertical gardening, you can create a sense of lush greenery by using wall space, arbors and trellises to allow plants to climb upwards.

6. Where's your house? If shrubs have swallowed your house, then hedge clippers comes in handy. You don’t want plants blocking the way from your drive to the front door so some serious pruning may be in order. You want landscaping, not a house in the middle of the forest. Also, tall and over grown shrubs are a security hazard providing a burglar with the protection and opportunity that they would need to break into your home. It's time to select curb appeal plants.

7. Selection and winter care. Some garden plants will not survive winter temperatures without proper care. When planning your garden, be sure to select the majority of your plant that will grow year round and always include a few evergreens and plants with winter interest. In fall be sure to provide your garden plants with a good thick layer (approximately 3 inches) of shredded bark mulch to insulate and provide moisture over the winter months.

8. Fences are falling apart. Fences are not just to separate your property from your neighbor's. They also add to the overall look of your garden. Make sure that you maintain your fences like the way you keep your plants. Use fences as backdrops for your landscaping projects.

8 Gardening Mistakes and How to Correct Them by Greenwood Nursery