How to learn?

[calyxx]

Totally basic question. How do I learn how to garden? I have a small London garden with beds that don't get much light. Feel like I'm forever trying out plants and losing them, and not knowing what to do when. I don't really know the basics. What's the best way to learn? Books? Forums? Help! Thanks!

I have a few beginner’s books and books on small gardens. I think Alan Tirchmarsh did a beginner’s book which is good. Visit local RHS gardens for ideas. Also, watch Gardener’s World (not those instant garden programmes).

Gardening is great fun and very rewarding. Learn about it from a mixture of books, magazines, tv programmes and internet sites. The Beechgrove Garden is better than Gardeners World. Get books from your library which should also provide free access to magazines online. The RHS website is a reliable and easily accessible source for all gardening issues.

To avoid losing plants, choose those which follow the rule of ‘the right plant in the right place’. That is, which direction does the bed face (north, south etc), how much sun does it get and what are your soil conditions? Then look for a plant that will be happy there.

Shade planting: annuals, bulbs and perennials / RHS Gardening

Beechgrove is good but depends on where you are in the UK. I think a London garden has quite different needs than where they garden in Scotland. Similarly Gardener’s World did a big feature on palms last week. No good for us northerners.

If you're not getting light, then the obvious thing to do is try plants that do well in the shade, that should give you a bit of success.Otherwise, don't be afraid of failure.You learn far more from what goes wrong than what goes right. Spend time every day looking at your plants and thinking about them.

Remember too that every year is different, and even those of us who've been gardening for years have failures. The main difference is we ascribe it to the plant, not our lack of knowledge. "It doesn't do well for me" is a useful phrase.

Oh, and never forget that you're gardening for enjoyment.

Aside from the top tips above (esp. sunlight and soil type), one thing I realised is that you can dig plants up and move them if they don’t thrive. I have plants I moved three times before they were happy - and no obvious ill-effects.

This. Browse some intro to gardening books and choose whichever you feel most comfortable with. There are a few that are specifically about small shady town gardens so have a good look around.

Another good idea is to peek into your neighbours' gardens. If something grows well in their garden, the chances are it will be happy in the yours as they are likely to have the same soil, levels of pollution etc.

A third option it to check for evening classes at your local college. Most colleges have hobby classes.

As well as all the above good advice, If you are at all interested in vegetable growing (I think he may do a few about flowers too?) I can recommend to Watch Charles dowding no dig channel on youtube, pick vegetables you'd like to have a go at growing, there is also a planting calendar on the no dig website which tells you what you can plant in each month.
I really like realseeds.co.uk for vegetable and flower seeds too. They specifically sell a low wage gardeners seed pack, if you aren't low waged you can buy them full price, but the pack is made up of easy to grow varieties that don't need a greenhouse etc so should be straightforward for novice gardeners.

All of the above is good advice but the short answer to 'how do I learn to garden'? Is simply by doing it. We all make mistakes, we all kill some plants but we learn as we go along and there's always much more to learn. That's all part of the fun.
And remember, there's always next year ...

I find the local gardening Facebook groups very informative and friendly. Gardener's World TV and magazine are great for all levels of gardener. Crocus and Sarah Raven websites are excellent sources of Gardening Porn. Visit NGS gardens for inspiration too.

And put some photos here, we are very friendly and you will be overwhelmed with enthusiastic help 😁.

I'm quite an experienced gardener, but I still make impulsive mistakes and buy plants that put up two fingers to me then expire.

One thing I will say - you can't go wrong with tough bulbs including crocus, snowdrops, miniature iris and daffodils, they really lift your heart when they come up in the late winter, and the time to buy and plant them is when they are in all the shops - ie now.

I think you will have problems with no or little light for veg.
I'm not sure summer bedding plants will do well either.
Things I have where there is little light - Saxifraga urbium (London Pride), Fatsia Japonica, Ivy, ground cover mahonia. Lonicera (honeysuckle) is a woodland plant and might be alright with a little light. Japanese Anemones as mentioned above. Some climbers might be ok once they have grown upwards into the sunshine. Other things you can look up online.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/shrubs/shade-planting

@calyxx
these topics should help with the basics

Gardening - how to articles from wikiHow

Join your local horticultural society or joining club, meet fellow enthusiasts and learn from their experience as well as your own! Most have regular plant sales and swaps, where you can find plants which work well in your local conditions.

Gardening club <<bangs head on keyboard>>

Love your name @GertrudeJekyllAndHyde

Thank you! I’m a frequent name-changer but confess I’m rather proud of this one.

You must keep it @GertrudeJekyllAndHyde.

Some community groups / gardens do a worked based level 2 city and guilds course, one day (and even evening) a week for a year. Enjoyable, practical, meet new people / gardeners in your local area. Less formal - volunteer at a gardening project and learn under and old hand.

^work-based level 2

^an old hand (sorry for the mistakes!)