The Best Gardening Tips For Beginners From Seasoned Gardeners
Taking up gardening can be quite the intimidating endeavor. There's a lot to study, a lot of delicate elements that, if handled incorrectly, can ruin your yield for the year. So, where's a beginner gardener to look for advice? Thankfully, there are spaces online where new gardeners can ask seasoned ones for tips. Here are some of those tips, can any of these help you on your gardening journey?
Study Your Space
"First things first. Find out what climate/growing zone you are in (if you look online you can put your zip code in and find out easily) And figure out what conditions you have in the space you have to grow. Sun? Part sun? Shade much of the day? Poor drainage or good drainage? Or are you going to use containers or build raised beds? Things like that will affect what kinds of plants you grow.
[...] I highly recommend a compost pile or bin if you have any room for one. It's not a requirement, but having a source of cheap compost is very helpful with gardening."
Go All Out
"Go big or go home! Grow as many plants as you can, as many different types as you can. You can't put too many seeds in the ground during your first year. The more you try, the more you will succeed."
You Have Room
"Spacing is more flexible than the seeds packets let on. It's designed for mechanical agriculture in rows, for the most part. I go more by 'How much room does this plant need to form?' (so, I'm not planting bulbing onions 2 inches apart, because I expect they will be larger than that) and 'How much space do I personally need to access this plant for harvesting and maintenance?' (Tomatoes will always grow bigger than you expect. Corn likes to be fairly dense, for pollination, but I need space to treat for earwigs. Etc.)."
Raise 'Em Up
"Raised beds are the best way to go for gardening! You will have the most success that way. I'd highly recommend adding drip lines. It makes the whole process much easier and you barely have to do anything!"
Fertilize Specifically
"Fertilize according to what part of the plant is growing and what you want out of it. [Lots] of nitrogen for leafy greens, corn, and also onions/garlic. The onion bulb is part of a leaf, and corn is a grass, so those all need nitrogen for most of their lives. Almost everything needs nitrogen early on to form leaves that will then process solar energy for the plant, but if you want to eat a different plant part (fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, rhizomes*) you probably want to reduce nitrogen and increase potassium and/or phosphorus as they begin to flower. Read up on 'NPK.'"
Flower Or Don't
"If you grow plants as herbs (mint, oregano, parsley, thyme, basil), you probably don't want them to flower - the flavor changes when they do. Sometimes you can just harvest at the first sign of flowering/trim the flowers, but sometimes they flower because of the temperature (cilantro is notorious for this) [...].
Lots of plants you don't think of as flowering will flower ("bolt"). Carrots, onions, lettuce, spinach, parsley, some garlic, kale/cabbage/broccoli will all flower, and it usually means the part you want to eat is becoming inedible."
Keep Weeds At Bay
"Sounds crazy but I've been doing this for years: 'round about July all that bare soil will have soooo many weeds. The only way I’ve found to stop this is to buy a bale of straw (not hay), water it so most of the seeds sprout, then a week later I spread it quite loosely 6-8" deep all over the garden. Yes, weeds (and the occasional straw seed) will sprout, but you’re pulling them out of absolute fluff, not hard-packed soil.
And yes, slugs like it, but they like bare soil as well (easier to traverse). I set an alarm every night for just after twilight, go out into the garden with tongs, dump them into a plastic cup, walk into the forest and set the cup on its side (retrieve it the next day). Never ever touch a slug - and wash your hands!! They're actually quite beneficial. I would never kill one… they can live to be 10 years old!"
Learn About Soil Health
"Soil health is everything. When I started, I thought it was as simple as just putting some seeds in dirt and watering it and boom! I was planting in containers at the time. It turns out it wasn't that simple. However, it took me many years to realize how hard it is to keep enough nutrients in pots continuously for the plants, especially heavy feeders like most vegetables. I'm doing raised beds for the first time this year in a community garden that has had the soil built up year after year and it really is as simple as putting some plants in the dirt because the soil is full of life that is supporting the growth of the plants. Healthy soil retains water better so it even takes some of the guess work out of that as well. I watched an interesting video last night about planting mushroom fruiting blocks in raised beds to inoculate them and help improve the structure of the soil. Getting edible mushrooms out of it would just be a bonus."
Keep Things Together
"[...] interplant and not be afraid of crowding complementary plants. For example, you would want to give tomatoes a decent amount of space between them for air flow and such, but don't be afraid to plant stuff like basil and radishes between them, flowers around them. More plants = less space for weeds and a diversity of plants brings a diversity of insects including beneficial pollinators and predators of the harmful insects. You're not just growing a garden, you're nurturing an ecosystem!"
Don't Skimp On Sunlight
"When it says full sun, it means full sun. You can't grow a happy and healthy plant in conditions that don't work for it. No matter how much you love it and want it to grow there. 'A little bit of sun in the morning' or 'only kinda shady...' won't do. Also works the other way around, that shade-loving fern will crisp up and fry in full sun.
Same goes for cold hardiness. That zone 7 beauty may look gorgeous, and you could do everything you can to baby it, but come winter when it gets to -20°F, it will die. And you will be sad."
It's A Journey
"Honestly, just try stuff. Plant a little extra of everything in case you lose some to experimentation. The best advice about planting will come from local sources – i.e. your area's ag extension, staff at the local nursery, gardeners in your area – because they're working with conditions that are similar to yours."
"Every gardening season is filled with trial and error. You're going to make mistakes, plants will die, pests will move in, and you’ll be adjusting accordingly the whole time. It may seem daunting, but the problem solving is rewarding. I promise! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, make changes as you see fit, and of course come back here to share you successes and failures."