Lessons I’ve learned as a Gardener
As a gardener, the learning curve is an ongoing journey. You’ll learn something everyday or encounter something you have never encountered in the previous years. You’ll start with the simple task of planting seeds, thinking it's as easy as pie, only to realize that each plant has its own likes and dislikes. Some thrive in sunlight while others seek refuge in the shade. Watering too little or too much can make or break your garden oasis. Learning about soil types, pruning techniques, and pest control becomes a daily adventure. But as you persevere through the challenges, the joy of seeing your garden flourish makes it all worth it. Personally I don’t have a natural green thumb, so I’ve made a lot of mistakes as a gardener and a designer.
Keep reading to learn from my mistakes or feel validated on your own journey!
Chaos gardening with expensive seeds is probably not a great idea. At the beginning of the spring, I was so excited to plant my recently delivered Zinnia seeds from Floret. I jumped the gun and sprinkled those seeds all around my backyard. To my knowledge, not a single seed took from this planting method and if I did, I forgot where I planted the seeds so they likely got mowed on several occasions. So I had to re-order seeds and plan better.
In general, chaos gardening and ADHD might not mix. You’ll probably a) forget where you planted things b) you’ll end up with a lot of weeds because you won’t know what’s a weed and hopeful for what is not.
Sunflowers will grow where you want them least. I have watched countless videos of my favorite gardening content creators where they have volunteer sunflowers in random spots across their yard. Yet, I intentionally planted sunflower seeds around my house, we’re talking at least 60 seeds, and have only seen a handful of sunflowers pop up in my front garden bed. AKA the spot where I only planted a couple seeds because I was convinced that would be the last place they would grow.
Not every seed that you plant will grow. If it does grow, that doesn't mean that it’ll be successful and produce a harvest. This gardening season I have had a lot of germination success but the varying weather patterns have wreaked chaos on the overall growing conditions. That brings us to the next point.
Even if you do everything perfectly and by the book, at the end of the day, you can not control the weather. Weather patterns vary. Averages are only averages. You can have record high temperatures or rainfall in a season. You can experience a lot of inclement weather with high winds or you could have a drought. You never know what the weather will bring each season so pay attention. At some point, you’ll be so used to frequent rainfall and then one day that’ll be your last rainfall for a while and you won’t realize that you actually need to water your garden until everything is brown and crispy or seriously drooping.
Split plants when you get them from the nursery. Splitting the plants before you plant is ultimately a buy one get one free situation. Why buy several of the same plant when you can split the plant into a couple? It seems like a no brainer if you ask me. Once the roots are established the split plants will grow to full maturity! (Think propagations. It might take a minute for the roots to get well established but that cutting of a plant can easily become a full plant if given the right TLC)
Set an alarm and do a daily garden walk. It’s exciting to get to see the daily progress but also gets you in the habit of noticing any issues that might need to be addressed sooner than later. Plus you’ll remember to start watering whenever it starts to dry out. I like to do this in the evening when it’s cooler. It’s honestly such a nice end to the day.
Overwhelmed by trying to figure out your growing conditions? Don’t be quick to rip out your weeds. Spending some time observing and identifying some weeds before just ripping them out at first sight will help you in the long run. Identifying your weeds will tell you a lot about your growing conditions. You’d be able to tell if your planting area is in full sun, if your soil holds a lot of moisture or if it’s well-draining, and if you have a lot of clay based on the average root depth.
Take a lot of notes. Taking notes throughout the gardening season will help you remember the mistakes you made the season before. You could take notes about how you filled your garden beds, how quickly your seeds germinated, what grew well together, what didn’t grow well together, which beds you planted certain crops in, how well the garden performed in the location that it’s in. I think it is also cool to take note of the birds, pollinators, and other insects you see at certain seasons. Taking notes will help you learn a lot faster and become a more natural gardener. I truthfully believe that no one is born with a green thumb and it is more of a learned skill than one acquired in the womb.
Patience! Patience! Patience! In a world of pretty much constant instant gratification, gardening really forces you to take a step back and be patient. Plants don’t go from seed to a full blown vegetable garden over night. It takes time. In some instances, you might not even get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. So just enjoy getting your hands dirty and connecting with the earth. Gardening is therapeutic and worthwhile, even if you don’t successfully grow a single thing.