If you could give one bit of advice to a novice gardener, what would it be?

[ohfook]

I'm the novice gardener. This is my third year of haven a garden and I'm slowly getting better but feel free to imagine you're giving advice to someone completely clueless but with bags of enthusiasm. What would you say?

Check your soil type

Grow stuff from seed... cheap, exciting and you land up with things that nobody else has!!
Teaches you so much about plants, soil, compost, botany etc..
Extra plants can be swopped/ sold at car boot sales etc..
Ignore fashions and fads... only ever have things in your garden that you really really love.
Please visit small privately owned nurseries.. talk to the owner/growers.. they REALLY know their stuff. Their enthusiasm and encouragement is infectious and you will pick up real information about the plants they have.. they wont sell you anything that wont succeed for you.. theyneed you to be happy and tell other people and come back!!
Dont be afraid to be less than perfect... your garden is an expression of you... no-one else has to love it the way you do!

Gardening is outdoor housework. Keeping on top of means you have something/somewhere to eat/look at/sit/share/talk about. Watch Gardener's World..

Don't be frightened of it. If it doesn't work the first time it's not the end of the world. Just enjoy having a go.

Another thing that is helpful, if you are that kind of person, is to keep records. How you do it is up to you. It helps when you know what you planted, plant names and varieties, where you got things from and how much they cost. It's interesting to compare dates when the daffodils came out, when you get frost and whereabouts in the garden, when there was no rainfall or too much; where the hedgehog nested, when the swifts came back - and left. But most important is what @CountFoscoslittlewhitemice said: enjoy it and have a go. (My garden is a mess at the moment because we've had Covid for a fortnight, and picking a few peas and beans is all we've felt up to. If I hadn't planted them, we wouldn't have had any.)

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My advice would be just relax and enjoy it, l watch youtube videos re plants l like, l grow lots from seed, l go to the garden nurseries/ centres for ideas, but l find it cheaper ordering some plants online. l love chopping and changing my flower borders, l keep a notebook of what works, what doesn't etc, and ideas for new schemes.

Go to all the NGS open gardens near you. It will provide inspiration and help you work out what you want and what you don't want.

If you have pots, feed them! People don't water or feed their pots enough, it is such a shame.

Get your soil tested so you know what grows well in it. Know what your shade plants and sun plants are.

Just go for it! Try things and see how they work out. Research it first if you want but just do it. Also, try some fruits or veggies.

There is no right way to do anything
All gardeners fail, its how we learn about plants
Save seeds and learn how to propagate.

Improve your soil. Keep working on it. Add organic matter, mulch, etc. twice a year.

Spending a fortune on plants and putting them into rubbish soil is just wasting your money.

Look what griws weill in your neighbours gardens and in the local area - then choose things you like from those.

opportunity to decide on a colour scheme if you want - say 3 favourite colours?

Go out and look at your garden every day. Even if you don't think there is anything to see, spend ten minutes going round the garden every day looking at what's new. Gradually you'll get good at noticing the little changes - buds and fruit forming, what colour the leaves are, how much moisture in the soil etc etc. Also, which bits of the garden get sun when, what are the areas that are in a rain shadow, where does the wind blow?

Make your own compost using clippings and kitchen scraps. Learn how to feed and mulch your soil.

Choose plants that suit the conditions.

You can get a large selection of great varieties of seeds from sites like Ebay & Etsy with sellers offering 100% guarantee that if for any reason you have issues, they refund or replace. Also look at Pinterest and set up a gardening board as lots of step by step photos & instructions as well as great tips & tricks such as planting Marigolds by your vegetables to deter pests away & Sunflowers, Cosmos, Dahlia & Zinnia to attract pollinators to help get the maximum out of your plants. Facebook marketplace is a great place to pick up used pots & trays and I picked up 3 fantastic old wooden sieves for £5.00 this past weekend. Start with easy & quick crops like Radishes that grow in an average of 21 days & cut & grow lettuce and things you can still grow at this time of year.

This.

And enjoy it 😊

A weed is only a weed if you don't want it there.

Garden 'makeover' shows are not real life. That's just making an outdoor room with plants for ornaments. A real garden is always developing and never finished. Real gardening is tending and nurturing, learning about the individual plants and their needs, and watching things grow and develop over years.

Choose perennial over annual.
Plant wildlife friendly.
The classical ( and cheap) terracotta planters are the best.
Always choose planters with a drainage hole.

Don’t impulse buy, do some research. Says one who has spent a small fortune on unsuitable plants.

Good enough is good enough. You don't need perfectionism. Somebody commented the other day how it seems that all plants want moisture-retentive yet free-draining soil .
Plant it! If it works then it works. If it doesn't then it's no big deal - even the professionals get it wrong sometimes. Just try something else next year (because a garden is never 'finished' anyway, there is always something new to do).
Gardening is supposed to be enjoyable, not stressful! Find what works for you, there is no 'right' way.

Feed your pots! I had no idea you had to feed them regularly and was completely puzzled when they all died. My friend told me to buy liquid seaweed from Amazon / Wilko and feed them ever week to ten days in the summer, and they've been going for years now.

Think about the scents in your garden as well as colour and shapes of plants.

Ensure your plants are watered daily in hot, dry weather and feed them with a good proprietary feed.

I've been a gardener, head gardener, teacher of horticulture, have had numerous gardens and allotment plots and can't grow radish for toffee.

Let a weed grow if you like it, but don't let it go to seed!

Try lots of things, you may get surprises. Gardens can have micro-climates - I'm astonished what grows and doesn't grow in mine.