How do you know so much?
We've been doing up our garden over the summer, and it looks so beautiful right now! I really love it!!
I want to know when I should be pruning, cutting back, wateringof all the plants I have.
I have c40 different genus of plant and 70 different species.. Given i'm relatively new to a lot of these plants, what is the best way to learn about them and when to do all the cutting, water, pruning etc?.. Is there a knack to it?.. i want to get this right so that next year it looks 5x better!!...
I'm tempted to set up a spreadsheet with a calendar.. and also have a detailed care guide for each plant i've bought telling me when to do all the above.. stick it in a folder or in my shed...
What do you think?.. Do you guys just have all this knowledge in your head?..
Posts
Read as widely as possible.
Ask questions on here.
Trial and error, accepting that you will make mistakes, we all have.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
NO, WE DON'T CARRY ALL THIS ENCYCLOPAEDIAC KNOWLEDGE AROUND ALL DAY. OTHERWISE WE WOULDN'T BE SITTING HERE.
THERE ARE LOTS OF WAYS TO LEARN. THE BEST, TO MY MIND, IS TRIAL AND ERROR......PROVIDING YOU ARE ABLE TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU DID WRONG AND CAN REMEMBER NOT TO REPEAT IT.
THERE IS NO FOOLPROOF METHOD OF LEARNING. FOOLS ARE INFINITELY INGENIUS.
If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
If you are interested in any subject you will soak up knowledge, The computer is a good place to start, do your homework on the plants you are growing this year, don't try to get bogged down with the intricacies which are not helpful.
Yes you will make mistakes and you will loose plants but when it works it's great.
a word of warning gardening can become addictive but what a nice addiction.
I'm a relative newbie, too. I completely agree with what's already been said. Use all the resources available to you, especially forums like this one where there is a great spread and depth of knowledge. There are also a tremendous amount of internet sites that provide specialist knowledge and guides. For example, the RHS website is an invaluable resource.
There are two primary things that I do to help me organise my gardening, and learn about the subject. I have a bookmarks folder in my computer called Garden with a number of sub folders; My Garden Plants, Weeds, Pests and Diseases, Garden Guides, Garden products, Wildlife, Seed Suppliers and many others. Everytime I find a good website or article it goes into the appropriate folder.
The other important thing I do is keep a garden diary and a seed list. The garden diary is organised into sections on maintenance (pruning etc.), and planting/seed sowing. I find this absolutely invaluable as a record of what plants I have year on year, how well they do and when and in what conditions e.g. weather, soil, and position. The section on planting and sowing allows me to check and compare when and where plants get put in the ground and containers, when they germinate etc.
I find it's best to add a little bit to the diary each day, or each time you've been in the garden, although I often break my own rule and find myself struggling a bit to remember several days worth of information to enter in it. Importantly I also take a lot of photo's, for pleasure but also so that I have both a record of how the garden has developed and a visual diary to complement the written one.
I realise that not everyone will have the time to keep a diary but I think it's extremely helpful if you do.
It helps if you get old too
YES!!
This is great! I will start a garden diary!!..
A diary is a good idea.Try and remember where you put it.
I have lists of what needs doing last winter somewhere, and the year before that. Creating a new list atm.
After a while you realise you don't have to know or remember everything, there are generals. Take early flowering shrubs, it doesn't matter what they are, they need pruning (if they need pruning) after flowering. Any other time and you've cut off the next lot of flowers.So that's just the one thing to know instead of lots.
In the sticks near Peterborough
My diary is on my computer. When I forget where that is I don't think I'll be doing any gardening!
good plan soulboy. I only take a notebook to the garden but transferring notes to computer sounds a plan.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Whatever you learn, and however much you manage to pack into your memory banks, it is never enough. There is always something new to flummox and puzzle and there are always plants that won't comform to the instructions on the label. Gardening is one long learning curve. I used to be driven by the rules and used lots of chemicals but gave it all up to go greenish (not entirely there yet) so instead of battling against nature, I now have to go with the flow and accept a few failures. The garden isn't tidy but by leaving seeds and places to hide, the creatures out there can help to keep down pests. An over-tidy garden isn't a great place for tiny animals, birds and insects. Hearing a mouse bite into cherry stones from the cover of low shrubs is quite something. Watching a green woodpecker drill holes in the lawn whilst looking for ants is amazing.