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Gardening for Beginners

There is nothing more satisfying than a beautiful and productive garden, but gardening doesn’t have to be as difficult as you may think.  Whether you’re all thumbs, or looking to become a green thumb, here is our guide to gardening for beginners.

Determining Soil Type and Drainage

To determine the type of soil that you have, you will need to dig several holes around your garden.  This will give you an idea of your soil type, as it may vary in different areas.  Dig the holes at least 30cm deep, and pay particular attention to the layers.  Typical soil will have a thin layer of topsoil over the sub-soil, where there is not much organic matter. It may be clay, stony, rock, or sandy.  All types of soil will support plants, but you need to plant the right type of plant into the soil in order to allow it to thrive.

To check how well your soil drains, fill the holes with water and check how long it takes for the holes to empty.  If it drains away very quickly, you have sandy soil and moisture retention will be an issue.  It can be improved by mulching or adding organic material to the soil.  If the water is still there after a few hours, drainage will be an issue.  Installing drainage, using raised garden beds, and adding organic material can all help with this problem.

The best way to improve any type of soil is simply to add organic material.  You can buy this from your local nursery or garden centre, or you can opt to make your own compost to add to the soil yourself.  If you choose to import soil into your garden, ensure that you mix the new soil with the existing soil as thoroughly as possible.

Choosing Plants

The first thing to think of when choosing plants is the type of garden that you want.  It is important to settle on something that you like, and that will fit within your maintenance requirements.  If you have little time, choose plants that require low maintenance.  If you want the full experience of gardening, then you can opt for the whole spectrum of plants.  If you are low on time but still want to enjoy gardening, perennials are a good choice.

Choose plants that will do well in your climate.  The local nursery will be able to help you with this, or look on the packets of seeds or on the tag that comes with seedlings to find out the general climate requirements.  You could also buy a general garden book that lists climatic growing zones.  Some plants do well in sun and others do well in shade so it is important that you read the labels and plant your plants in the appropriate areas of your garden.  Be sure that you choose plants that have suitable water requirements for your area.  If you are often under water restrictions, there is no point choosing very thirsty plants.  Drought tolerant plants would be a better option in this case.

How to Plant your Plants

Often people make mistakes when planting their plants, causing them to grow less than optimally.  When planting, the hole should be wide, rather than deep.  The hole should be no deeper than the depth of the pot, and should be wide and basin-shaped.  Always make the hole two to three times the diameter of the root ball.  Roughen up the sides of the hole to allow the plant to easily spread its roots.  When backfilling the hole, resist the temptation to add too much organic material as it can lead to the development of gases which can kill the plant.  Do not use more than 5 percent organic material in backfill. 

Do not place fertiliser in the bottom of the hole.  Fertiliser around the root zone can actually cause water loss from the roots.  It is best applied to the surface where it can be dissolved by water and taken up as required.  Do not fertilise plants when they are first planted – wait until their roots are established.  Keep the pot shaded until you are ready to plant.  This will stop the roots from “baking” in the sun.

When planting, treat the roots with care.  Carefully free some roots at the edge of the potting medium so that they can extend into the backfill but leave the rest alone.  Do not cover the potting mix with site soil.  If you cover the potting mix with site soil, the water may run down the sides but not into the potting mix and the plant will die.

The backfill does need to be firmed down after planting but this must be done progressively.  Doing it too roughly will destroy the roots and compact the soil.  Apply mulch no deeper than about 75mm and keep it away from the trunk of the plant.  Finally, when watering, water widely around the plant.  Regular deep watering of the plant should continue throughout their first season to allow the root system to establish itself properly.

Watering Plants

When it comes to watering your plants, the first rule is to never water them every day.  Doing so stops oxygen from re-entering the soil space and causes the roots to suffocate.  Lawns, annuals, and other plants with shallow root systems should be watered every 2-3 days.  Plants with deeper roots can be watered every 7-10 days.  When watering, thoroughly saturate the root system and do not water again until the soil is somewhat dry.  Plants need a good deep drink.  Over watering and frequent, shallow watering are the two most common watering problems. 

This rule applies to established plants.  Newly planted plants and seedlings will require watering more often.  Check the instructions that come with the plant.

Fertilising Plants

When fertilising, never fertilise a dry plant.  Thoroughly water the plant one day before fertilising.  Fertiliser will burn the roots of dry plants while well-hydrated plants will happily drink it up.  Feed annuals weekly for the best results.  Perennials fall into different categories when it comes to fertilising. A general rule is to feed with a granule perennial food late in spring, through summer

How to Prune Plants

When pruning a plant, you need to remove all dead, damaged and diseased branches.  This will keep the plant healthy and make subsequent pruning easier.  Hard pruning will promote more vigorous growth than light pruning.  Some plants will also benefit from pruning to ensure an abundance of flowers.  The safest time to prune these is directly after the plant’s flowering period. 

When pruning, use sharp tools and disinfect them by cleaning with methylated spirits.  Ragged edges will more easily allow disease into your plants.  Make clean cuts that slope away from buds.  Cut close to and parallel to existing branches but not flush with them.  Use the plant’s natural growing habits as a guide.  If it is slow growing, usually only a light pruning will be necessary.  Fast growing plants need more regular pruning.  Before pruning fruit trees, find out what type of wood produces the fruit, to avoid cutting off fruit bearing branches.

Gardening Tools

There are some essential garden tools that you will need.  These include:

• spade
• fork
• garden rake
• hoe
• hand trowel
• hand fork
• secateurs
• long handled pruners
• pruning saw
• shears
• watering can or hose
• mower
• wheelbarrow
• gardening gloves

Easy to Grow Plants

Growing plants doesn’t have to be a difficult endeavour.  Here are some plants that are easy to grow:

• cacti
• daylilies
• sunflowers
• forget-me-nots
• bellflowers
• marigolds
• hostas
• coreopsis
• coneflower
• black-eyed Susans
• petunias
• pansies
• ferns
• phlox
• impatiens
• azaleas
• lettuce
• carrots
• radishes
• squash
• beans
• capsicums
• rosemary
• thyme
• basil
• oregano
• coriander
• parsley
• mint

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