Advice for New Gardener

by Penelope
(Chicago IL USA)

It was such a delight to read the gardening advice today given by the other gardeners here on your blog. I agree with the others who advise "know your soil."

I would add that a new gardener should try not to be too hard on him/herself. I am pretty sure I have made just about every mistake I could have possibly made in the garden this past year and for awhile I felt just terrible until I realized how much I have learned about gardening and how much I realize now I have yet to learn--and that excites me--I see the garden as a kind of "forever" process and not something that I will create once and for all time.

The woman who suggested taking a stroll regularly in the garden was right on! every day! I was constantly surprised by the so-called "invasives" that died immediatly in the garden no matter who hard I tried to keep them alive and at the same time delighted by the seeds that absolutely took off and grew like crazy in what seemed like the worst planting conditions and I still have no idea why. Oh well!!!

And I would also add--have a sense of humor--you will need it when you see how much money you will end up spending--I think that it takes about 30 plants to fill the space of a 10 sq ft area of the garden. You can just imagine how quickly you can spend just about every penny you have on plants.

Best Wishes and have a joyful gardening future!
Penelope