Gardening for beginners?

[iamsoreadyforbednow]

Any tips or tricks? We’ve just sold our house and are awaiting in our new build, their gardens are always so plain so I’d like to get into gardening, I did try planting a bit at the last house but the ground was rubbish and for some reason half of the garden had concrete under the soil so I gave up.

Some things I’m conscious of are it needs to be child friendly as I have a toddler and a baby, easy management and look pretty.

Any suggestions on where I can look for plants/flowers that fit that description would be appreciated as when I look in shops it’s overwhelming and I have no idea what’s good and what’s not 😂

The soil is often rubbish in new builds. I'd start with getting some decent soil.

Will you have patio already so just need to do lawn beds and any structure you are putting up.

It costs a fortune to get a landscaper. I'd probably draw something out myself and focus on lawn and garden landscaping.

I'm no much of a gardener but my philosophy is to get planting you canalwats redoing future years. I recently planted shrubs so I've got stuff to look at in winter then fitting annuals and perrinials around them.

Baskets are a good way to add colour and look pretty.

I enjoyed the results of planting spring bulbs at Christmas so now I'm on to my summer bulb collection. I'm doing a lot in pots (big ones, not terracotta for better insulation) as it says they withstand cold better.

You need to find plants that are suitable for your garden and soil so sun/shade acidic/alkaline.

Sweet peas look lovely growing up a frame and are tall for the back of beds.

I'm also trying gladioli at the back at the are tall. Will be putting more bedding plants in in June.

Get the book 'how to create your garden' by Adam frost. It is exactly for your needs!
Brings you through assessing your space, how you want to use the space, and also how to plant it & instructions on how to do everything.

Have fun!

Cosmos are pretty flowering annuals and don't need good soil.

Design the garden first - the hard landscaping (seating area, play area) and the boring bits (where do the bins, washing line, shed, compost heap go). Think about permanent plants like trees and bushes.
Flowers are way down the list. You can pick up all sorts of pretty annuals from cheap places like Wilko or the supermarkets.

Don't be overwhelmed. You can always change things about if you are not happy. It's what all gardeners do all the time.

I would start with ‘ landscape gardens’ on Pinterest. Pin or screen shot colours, designs, plants and shapes that you like. Quite often this will show just as much about what you dislike as like. Shrubby garden, ornamental grasses, minimalist, cottage style or a mixture.

For inexperienced gardeners, don’t invest in any expensive shrubs or trees in the first year. Get the feel of the garden and how you are using it. Look at where sun is during differs times. Look at what is growing in the local area.

Builders leave loads of rubbish under the soil and it is an absolute waste of time to try to dig it up and improve it until you know what you want. You can throw down some annual seeds that thrive in poor soil, this will give you lots of colour i your first year.

Once you have decided, it is better to develop the garden section by section rather than the whole thing. If you are too impatient for that, it is really worth hiring mechanical tools. They are not expensive to hire and will save your back.

I agree to looking at the shape and design of the garden first. Work out what you want or need in your garden first. Washing line, shed, seating, wheelie bins, compost bins etc. Then work out where the paths to those things are. Do you want straight lines or meandering paths. Ponds, rockery areas, raised beds and lawns - Keep it simple to begin with you don't need everything but think about what you do want. Keep an eye on the sun and where it moves as this will tell you what things you can plant.

I'm not much of a gardener but want to get more into it and we moved last year into a house with a complete blank canvas. The first year we basically didn't do anything other than dig two beds and throw down wildflower seeds. It actually looked glorious for about six weeks in the summer.

Then we mulched the beds over winter (added lots of compost and bark chippings) to try to improve our dreadful soil. This year I've decided that one of the beds (the sunnier one) I want with lots of evergreens to add year round interest so I've planted some shrubs and also added trellis to the fence to grow some everygreen climbers up.

The second bed (the shadier one) we'll tackle later in the year to spread the cost.

Next year we plan to lay a patio as this will be our second summer having our garden chairs and table on the lawn.

All of this is a very long way of saying, take your time. Plan out where you want things to go as PPs have said and maybe focus on one area at a time once you have your plan. I've discovered that really I like low maintenance and structure in the garden hence lots of evergreen shrubs and then I can grow pretty flowers/annuals/bits of fruit and veg in pots to give me more flexibility. If I'd rushed into it last year when we moved I'd have probably made some expensive mistakes.

I like watching Gardener's World and Beechgrove Garden for inspiration and ideas.