✦Home · 12 recordsStart a garden

New gardens fail from over-ambition and from ignoring where the sun goes. This starts with one bed or a few pots, chooses plants for the conditions rather than the photograph, and makes watering a routine — which is what actually kills things.

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Goal

One bed, alive at the end of the season Month 5

Small, suited to the light, and watered consistently.

Learn the space Week 4

Where the sun goes, before buying anything.

  • Watch where the sun falls for a week and write it downDo firstDay 10
  • Check what the soil is actually likeWeek 3
  • Choose plants for those conditions, not from a photoDo firstWeek 4

One bed Month 5

Small enough to keep up with in July.

  • Prepare one bed or a few potsDo firstWeek 6
  • Plant itWeek 8
  • Review at the end of the season: what survived?Month 5

Routines

  • Water and check the plantsdaily
  • Half an hour in the gardenweekly
✦ It comes with a note

Light first, plants second

The commonest beginner mistake is choosing from a picture rather than from the conditions. A week of noticing where the sun actually falls decides more than anything bought afterwards.\n\nMost things that die in a first season died of inconsistent watering, which is why it is a daily routine rather than a task.

✦ Questions

Start a garden, answered.

Things that suit your light and are hard to kill. Watch where the sun actually falls for a week before buying anything — the most common beginner mistake is choosing from a picture rather than from the conditions.
One bed, or a few pots. A large first garden is a large amount of watering and weeding in July, which is when enthusiasm is lowest and everything needs the most attention.
Watering, in both directions, which is why it is a routine here rather than a task. Most things that die in a first season died of inconsistency rather than of anything a beginner did wrong at planting.
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