Gardening for beginners!

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this post today! Gardening has been a passion of mine for so long but I honestly didn’t think it could be something worth sharing. I recently have had a few people reach out to me for advice on their garden! Like what?! “I need help in my beds” or “What should I plant here?” has become something I am used to hearing, and those sweet comment have had me thinking recently – Maybe I should blog about this? And I am so glad I am sharing these beginner gardening tips with you today and I know this will spiral into me sharing more of what i’ve learned! Gardening is hard, y’all! But it is SO WORTH IT. And for those of you waiting to see posts about the girls (the chickens), don’t worry they’re coming, too!

Tip #1.  Learn about the area you live in! What does that mean? For me it’s learning that the last frost date for Maryland is about April 15th. What “zone” do you live in? How is the soil here? Also, consider when it is best to plant! Just because Home depot or Lowes carries tomatoes doesn’t mean they’re ready to go in the ground. University of Maryland has so many great resources for appropriate planing dates based on their research of the weather!

Tip #2.   Do your research! Ask yourself – what do you want to plant? If it’s peonies – do you know what kind of sun peonies require? Are they transplantable? Should they be fertilized? Peonies are so beautiful but they can be stubborn! They prefer to stay put so make sure wherever you plant them, can be their lifelong home! Pansies are a hardy annual flower that likes a lot of water! So be sure to water regularly! Researching each individual plant will help you out the most in the long-run! Check out my outdoor inspiration board on pinterest for some resources and inspiration!

 Tip #3.  Trial and Error! Try new things, because you can! Whether it’s a new plant all together or a new garden bed in your yard, give it a shot! If you pick up a new plant at local nursery and it withers away, it’s okay! You can learn from it! Ask yourself, why did it work? Was it the soil? The amount of sunlight? Regroup, learn from it, and move on! Most of what I have learned in my gardening experience, is simply from trying something new. I just thought something could work and I tried it out. Trust me, it didn’t always end well but I made sure it didn’t hurt my pocket! Obviously when I started gardening, those gorgeous coral peonies look like heaven and I was dying to try them out! Except, they were the kind you had to mail order and were $80 a plant – not joking. So I waited a few years before they made it into my garden last year, and they’re set to bloom next month! It was worth the wait because I now know where the best location is for them and how to keep them happy! I will share lots of pictures once they bloom!

Tip #4.  Get out and explore! Go for a walk in your neighborhood and see what your neighbors are doing with their landscape! See what’s working in your area and use! If you see people working in their gardens, stop and ask for suggestions. People who are passionate about gardening are usually willing to share and get more people inspired! Visit your local nursery! I cannot express this enough- Home Depot is great, but they don’t always have the most knowledgable staff available. Go to the nursery and ask those folks the questions you’ve been wondering (and don’t forget to build relationships, too!) . You will thank me later! For my Maryland friends – Sun Nurseries , Neu Valley Nursey , and Valley View Farms are some of my favorite nurseries! I could spend days in these places!

Don’t I have the sweetest little helper? Just kidding, he tries to eat everything I plant! Good thing he’s cute 🙂

Tip #5.  Work on things that last! This isn’t just my life motto (thanks to my awesome mom who constantly reminded me of this), but it can be used in the world of gardening as well! I love some annual as much as the next guy, but they will not come up next year! And if you’re just starting out, you want all of your hard efforts to stick as long as they can! Think spring bulbs – you can always count on those returning every year – and that is so inspiring to me! Although perennials are more pricey upfront, you get the most return from them. Every year they will mature little by little and some of them (like hostas) will get so big that you will want to divide them!