Gardening for idiots

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I have a awful garden, so dull. I always seem to kill plants and flowers, despite watering. I planted loads of pansies in the spring and they've died, garden is full o empty pots needing to be filled.

So my question is, are there anything I could plant that would last most of the year? I don't want to buy and pot now if they'll only last until September?

I really want a pretty looking garden so would appreciate any help

TIA

What is your soil like? Do you know how much sun etc you get? Does it have to be flowers or could you plant some bushes such as lavenders or rosmary?

Pots can be divils to take care of as it's really easy to over/under water them.

A few big ones tend to work better than loads of little ones (easier to water, more soil for the plants, you can put more than one plant in each)

Make sure you put lots of drainage (stones, polystyrene) in the bottom and there are drainage holes, also sit them on saucers so you can see if the saucer is full, no water is needed.

I've things like marigolds, nasturtiums, hostas in pots - and what actually looks v nice and can be put in the ground at some stage are acers (Japanese maples) from Tesco, got a green and a red for ?4 each, they were v small so are OK in a pot for a while.

Lavender is nice but use poorish sandy soil and it hates 1) being moved (so don't repot it much) and 2) being wet, so go sparingly on the water.

What sort of garden would you like? Do you want something pastel and pretty or bold and colourful? Do you want lots of flowers or big, sculptural plants? How much time do you gave for the initial work or for upkeep?

Tell us more and plenty of MN gardeners will have suggestions!

I garden professionally and my advice to novice gardeners is always to get rid of the pots. They make your garden high maintenance.

Plant straight into the ground and you'll have saved yourself loads of work to start with.

If it's any consolation pansies always die on me as well.

I would also recommend lavender, and hebes are nice as well. Daylilies (hemerocallis) don't require any attention and are giving lots of flower right now.
You can start planting tulips now for next spring, and daffodil bulbs be be available soon as well.