Absolute beginner at gardening

[Chica1990]

I want to start this post by saying I have never known how to garden and am a COMPLETE novice. I want to start enjoying our garden more but I feel like it's a bit grubby and needing some TLC, but I'm not sure where to begin or what to even do.

Some things I have questions on if any wise mumsnetters wouldn't mind humouring me?

• Does anyone know any proper beginner video channels for gardening, for people that really don't know anything
• What tools do you recommend other than a small and big spade and rake?
• What do you do about spider webs in your garden, is the best thing to use a fluffy duster? Is there any way to prevent some as they pop up every day it seems
• What do you do with outside toys? Do you put them away every night in a storage chest?
• Same question about outside furniture like reclining chairs?
• My flower beds seem to have loads of stones and the bed seems too hard to rake and I don't like how it looks. Do you suggest more watering or covering with soil?
• I did have a go at getting some pots with planting tomatoes, potatoes and carrots. When would you actually pick them and when they are out is that it done or do they leave parts behind to reproduce?

So sorry for the stupid questions and appreciate any advice

Number one - it's the outdoors, and that is where spiders live. There's no point in getting rid of webs, they will just spin more. And while they're out there, they are providing the service of catching and eating other insects and pests that would otherwise damage your plants. Spiders are the good guys in your garden.

Everything else, maybe buy a basic gardening book for beginners and read it from cover to cover.

@ohnowwhatcanitbe even if it's webs on the chairs and furniture? I feel like we have more than an average garden or I'm not storing things correctly.

You will want a garden fork too and some secaturs and maybe loppers.
Watch gardeners world. It's on iPlayer and covers everything from basics to more complicated stuff.
I have some plastic storage boxes which outdoor toys go in (and I bring in or put in the shed) but often stuff gets left out. It will get dirty and fade in the sun but thats just what happens with outdoor toys. Furniture should be ok outside in summer. I put a cover over stuff in winter and always bring cushions in.
Pic of the flower beds needed to see what you mean about the stones.
Most veg is annual, so you harvest the lot and plant more the next year. Runner beans are easy so worth a try if you want something to have a go at.

If you are about to sit down and actually use them, then just use a dustpan brush to sweep the webs off.

Of course you're going to get spider webs on your outdoor furniture, it's outdoors! Just brush them off with your hand or a brush, it's not a problem.
I agree with watching gardeners world. You could buy gardeners world magazine too. I learned huge amounts about gardening from books, there are loads of beginners gardening books out there. You'll need a trowel, hand fork, secateurs, border spade and fork, a few trugs or buckets, kneeler.

Tool-wise, I could not be without my secateurs, loppers and shears (but we have a lot of perennial flowers/plants/shrubs/trees which need pruning and cutting back so they grow again and to prevent them from growing out of control).

Please don’t feel embarrassed for asking, it’s great to ask, share tips and learn new skills. I similarly knew little, but bought our house from a professional landscape gardener, so have learnt as I go, so I truly wish you well with your gardening journey 😊💐

Ooh and outdoor toys:

• Clear, plastic themed boxes (on a shelving unit in our brick built shed). E.g beach toys, water toys, park toys.
• Everyday stuff to hand on shelves (garden chalk, old books & blanket, outdoor art materials, kinetic sand, duplicate bricks, children’s watering cans, etc).
• Tough tray on a stand (incredible to tip bricks into or put sand/water/water mats. I then store plastic toys I’m less precious about underneath it.
• Plastic playhouse provides enough shelter for old ride on toys, scooters, etc.
• You can buy bike covers if space in your shed is limited/shed isn’t available.

I do just leave out plastic slide/horse/water table etc. They haven’t faded, but our garden is v shady. I’d prefer everything in a shed/garage, but short of space!

I keep an old dustpan and brush in my shed for brushing down fence panels, sweeping the playhouse, the patios, round the sand tray, etc. Also a stiff broom, and a wire broom for moss removal.

Hi OP, as a novice gardener (as am I) the trick is to have a relatively low maintenance garden, I have a small garden , I planted hydrangeas, lilac , azalea, flowering bushes make an area look lush and vibrant , roses and Lilly’s smell beautiful , some ornamental trees for lovely coloured foliage. They take care of them selves . All I do is a bit of weeding and feeding and a bit of pruning before spring !

You're me OP. I've started off by watching Gardeners World. I can also get the GW magazine free online via my library's subscription to Press reader. I bought the RHS Complete Gardens Manual book and I'm enjoying that.

Currently browsing plants for my completely empty back garden - well I have a birch tree! My tulips are coming up at the moment.

I started two years ago - I finally saw a garden I liked the look of, someone posted it on here! And seeing something I actually liked spurred me on. So maybe try to figure out a style that you like. I tried veg growing a few years ago - I was crap at it.
I don't like the 6 or 8 legged creatures but I'm gradually learning to not be quite so jumpy when I see them. You'll gradually get use to them.

You can study and take short cuts at the same time. Mine are:

Geraniums. Almost impossible to kill and look nice immediately.
Herbs. Ditto.
Evergreen shrubs (bushes, big or small). Ditto.
Go round your area, Google lens the nicest plants, buy them. Should thrive cos same local climate.
Install the RHS app, tells you everything and you can search for the sort of plants you fancy - eg low maintenance, scented, evergreen.
Ask on MN. Many a plant have the green-fingered goddesses saved.

Good tips up thread. I would have a look for gardening books in the charity shops, anything by Alan Titmarsh would be good. Often you can find books from the series Plant Expert, they tackle individual types of plants. This way the books will be cheap enough to give back if you don’t want them.

YouTube is also good for gardening tutorials. I follow Adam’s gardening guides. He explains things very clearly and easy to understand. As for garden furniture I have bought the covers from B&M to put on over winter but take my cushions in. Have a look on Pinterest to get some garden layout ideas plan how you would like it to look and go from there.

Thank you so much everyone for the replies! I'm a visual learner so will be looking up the recommended YouTube channels. I now appreciate that spider webs are normal, I just feel like no other friends have them all over their stuff but they may just brush them off before I arrive so I have noted about keeping a dustpan brush outside.

My husband cleared the garage out on the weekend and found some more gardening tools, what a result!

@OutandAboutMum1821 amazing storage pointers, so simple and effective and think it means we can get more out of the toys rather than just not wanting to touch them.

@Geneticsbunny I have attached a pic of the bed if you don't mind having a look? I'm wondering if I should embrace it, tackle it or cover it.

@Starbri8 and @Supersimkin7 thank you for the low maintenance recommendations, much needed as I'm due a baby in August!

I think we will be spending a lot of time at home over the summer with the new baby which I've realised may be part of why I want the garden to be a pretty and functional space that I can be happy to look at most of the day 🤞🏻

Different plants like different types of soil. Look around at what grows well in your neighbourhood and you'll see the plants that are likely to do well in your garden. In mine, magnolia, camelias and azaleas do well, but eg. roses struggle so I've only got them in pots.

Re your border, life's too short for digging! Just loosen the top soil, get some bags of mulch from the garden centre and wait until you've had a decent amount of rain, then spread it down as mulch to hold in the moisture,

re tools, my most frequently used items are

• secateurs
• loppers
• rake
• leaf rake for autumn leaves, put all the leaves into a compost bin, they're great to rot down and use as mulch,
• fork
• gardening gloves

if you can buy good quality like Wilkinson Sword or Darlak then you only buy once. Dont buy cheap rubbish as you'll have to replace them. Keep all your tools in a tool store or garage, so they don't deteriorate over winter.

if you're going to have your hands full with a new baby, why not be less ambitious this year and do a few colourful pots that are easy to keep watered over the summer. You can buy water retaining granules to keep the pots from drying outl

I think pots are a bad idea as they're really high maintenance with all the watering.

Sounds like you've got similar soil to us, OP - quite stoney and free draining? Your picture is useful - it's a very narrow border! But your fig looks happy.
I would bung some colourful plants in (and a rose or two) and be done!

I would pick off all the stones you can see on the top and find somewhere to put them. Each time you plant something, just pick up any you see and remove them. Eventually there will be less stones. In the meantime, using a fork when you dig will be easiest as it will go round the stones more easily.

Don't dig if you don't need to though. There is lots of evidence now that digging too much damages all the stuff going on in the soil which is helping the plants to grow.

Is it a fig? Looks like a variated fatsia to me.

Definitely a fig next to the Fatsia. I’d make the bed a bit wider and plant some Cranesbill geraniums ( the perennial ones). Lots of varieties, coloured flowers and they spread with little maintenance.

as a beginner I always found beechgrove garden an easier to follow programme than gardeners world though have to account for the different weather! Also pick some easy to follow gardeners on Instagram as they will often tell you what to do when which can be very helpful.

also i brush the webs off my furniture before friends come round!

What’s in a bag of mulch ?

Mulch is just rotted down organic matter so could be compost or bark chippings or leaf mould or used mushroom compost. To improve soil, and keep weeds down you can add a thick layer, about 5cm thick around the base of your plants and across any bare soil. All the worms will then mix it in with when existing soil and it helps to retain moisture .

I only started gardening during lockdown and I’m still very much a novice. What I have learned is that a lot of the time when we think we can’t grow things it’s just the plant doesn’t like where you’ve put it. Basically the plant is the problem not you.

Also more than anything else I’ve done, you learn by making mistakes. When my dh complains about the amount of money I’ve spent on things that haven’t worked I remind him (and myself) that all hobbies have wins and loses. His hobby is watching football and I don’t say that he should find a new hobby to spend his time and money on every time Newcastle loses. It’s just part of the experience!

I’ve a few books that I dip in and out of and I use YouTube if I want to learn a specific thing but I’ve definitely learned the most from just watching gardeners world. I love the bit where normal people show their gardens. I’d watch a whole show of just that.