If you knew then what you know now...

[MaryMary]

I've noticed from reading various posts that we seem to have a good mix of old hands and newbie gardeners here. I'm curious to know what everyone's first "mistakes" were...

What would you change if you could? Or have to change somewhere down the line? Or wish you had known sooner?

For myself, my grandfather had 3 huge veggie gardens, and I followed him around. He taught me a lot about plants. My mother always had a small veggie garden, and I learned a bit from her.

But, I've only had my very own veggie garden the last 5 years. I started with a little patch beside the house, and I wish I'd known more about amending the soil when I started it.

We recently sold an RV that had been sitting in the back yard (for the last 5 years,) and all that ground with nothing growing on it , and yep, I now have a new, and much bigger veggie garden.

Problem is, I wish I'd known how far tree roots extended into the yard, and that as soon as you enrich the soil, they'll spread more roots to that area to soak up the nutrients. (It's hopeless, hopeless, I tell you...)

Next year, I will get some pallets, and make a raised bed garden on that patch!! So there, old tree!!

 

[DeborahJane]

I've noticed from reading various posts that we seem to have a good mix of old hands and newbie gardeners here. I'm curious to know what everyone's first "mistakes" were...

What would you change if you could? Or have to change somewhere down the line? Or wish you had known sooner?

For myself, my grandfather had 3 huge veggie gardens, and I followed him around. He taught me a lot about plants. My mother always had a small veggie garden, and I learned a bit from her.

But, I've only had my very own veggie garden the last 5 years. I started with a little patch beside the house, and I wish I'd known more about amending the soil when I started it.

We recently sold an RV that had been sitting in the back yard (for the last 5 years,) and all that ground with nothing growing on it , and yep, I now have a new, and much bigger veggie garden.

Problem is, I wish I'd known how far tree roots extended into the yard, and that as soon as you enrich the soil, they'll spread more roots to that area to soak up the nutrients. (It's hopeless, hopeless, I tell you...)

Next year, I will get some pallets, and make a raised bed garden on that patch!! So there, old tree!!

Sounds like a good plan MaryMary!!!
I think my biggest mistake, which unfortunately I can still find myself doing, is planting something where I want it, not where it wants to be.

 

[TheConstantGardener]

I wish my parents or grandparents took care of their gardens and farms more then I'd be more knowledgeable about agriculture and whatnot. I wish I knew about organic fertilizer earlier in my gardening hobby so that I could've saved a lot more money and have healthier produce.

 

[Beth_B]

@MaryMary - google straw bale gardening.

 

[CrazyConure]

I would change all my overwatering habits. I recently found out my plants were dying from it.

Anyways, I'm glad I stopped. Things are improving.

 

[petesede]

House buying, definitley house buying. I didn´t know the importance of sun angle and the term ´southern exposure´. I would be a lot more careful about buying a property that allowed a huge variety of plants by having parts of the yard with differing sun directions.

 

[MaryMary]

Beth_B, yeah, straw bales are another option I'll be looking into. We're renting this house, and I would hate to build a pallet bed then have to leave it, because how would you get that in a pick-up truck?!

petesede, the neighborhood I live in is an older one, and all the trees are HUGE!! Two big maples in my back yard, four big trees in the neighbor's front yard. With the exception of my postage stamp sized front yard, 90% of the rest is shaded all day long. Don't get me wrong, I love those big beauties, but the shade is terrible.

 

[filmjunkie08]

I would have tried to gather money for a standing garden bed. The rain here in central Texas is killing my plants. We have had rain for 4 straight days and my plants are standing in water. It looks as though some of them will not make it. At least with a standing garden I feel it would have been easier to cover my plants with a tarp and defray some of the rain.

 

[mgmine]

I would make the garden edges easier to maintain. It's tough to get at them but if left unattended more than a week at a time they start to look shabby.

 

[MaryMary]

I would have tried to gather money for a standing garden bed. The rain here in central Texas is killing my plants. We have had rain for 4 straight days and my plants are standing in water. It looks as though some of them will not make it. At least with a standing garden I feel it would have been easier to cover my plants with a tarp and defray some of the rain.

filmjunkie08, maybe my idea for a raised bed using old pallets would be helpful for you! When I decided I wanted a raised bed, I watched a lot of YouTube videos on the subject. You can get free wood pallets almost anywhere that uses them! I know for a while there, they didn't want to use them for interstate transport, due to the emerald ash borer. This video shows one like the one I was thinking of making. It's too long for me, but the principle is the same. I think I'd like individual ones to be able to plant and weed the whole way around it. I'd probably stand a pallet up at one end to use as a trellis. But it's a good video for ideas!!

Another one I liked was the strawberry planter. It only uses one pallet to make, and I think it'd be cute on a back deck or patio.

 

[Heruga]

I am a newbie gardener and only recently became interested in botany. I always had a huge passion on nature but could not quite discover what exactly I was so fond of. And I found out that recently at age 21(now 22) beautiful plants and flowers were my answer. In my yard I have both a vegetable/fruit and a small botanical garden. I wish I knew or at least became interested in both of them. My dad has been doing all the vegetable garden all these times and I wish I helped him out more so I could get a better understanding of how to raise a vegetable garden. But vegetable gardens aren't my favorite type of garden, I'm more interested in raising a garden aesthetically. My dad also planted a couple of trees(Jiro persimmon tree, Japanese plum tree aka ume tree) in our front yard before and I didn't have any interest in it years back so I never knew what type of trees they were until recently. We also have an azalea bush and although I always did think that the blooms were beautiful, I never knew what they were until recently. I just wish I knew more about these plants and how they are a big contribution to nature, moreso I wish I got into gardening earlier.. 22 seems a little late
But my first mistake after I started gardening? Well as you can see from my other posts, I didn't think that digging a hole wide enough for shrubs and trees were that important..ridiculous I know, and so I planted some stuff without digging a hole wide enough and had to replant all those plants again.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

My oldest perennial garden is now 26 years old. Looking back I would have first took out some of the yuck soil and replaced it with better and tilled it in then started. That would be the only "mistake" I have made. I spend lots of winters with books to select the proper plantings for success and go with my brain not my heart.

 

[MaryMary]

...snip...

I wish I got into gardening earlier.. 22 seems a little late

...snip...

Ok, so basically what I'm saying there is:

Er...What?!... I'm confused... Are you serious?! ... That's funny! ... No, that's hilarious... You're fine, and don't try to rush it.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you are just a pup. Most people look forward to retiring so they have time to devote time to gardening. You've got them beat by about 40 years.

It is never too late to learn, and you are only 22 years old!!

Whippersnapper!! Get off my lawn!!

 

[Esther Knapicius]

She is funny. Yep, a little pup. I am looking forward to retiring. August 2017 cannot come soon enough. Then my gardens will be perfect. I will have all day, 7 days a week etc to fuss around.

 

[Heruga]

Ok, so basically what I'm saying there is:

Er...What?!... I'm confused... Are you serious?! ... That's funny! ... No, that's hilarious... You're fine, and don't try to rush it.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you are just a pup. Most people look forward to retiring so they have time to devote time to gardening. You've got them beat by about 40 years.

It is never too late to learn, and you are only 22 years old!!

Whippersnapper!! Get off my lawn!!

Lol well I guess I still do have a lot of time but I just wish I learned even a slight bit more of gardening since my dad has been doing it all the time since I was little. Apparently I showed little to no interest in it(mainly because I didn't like physical work) and I feel like I lost the chance. You made me feel better though, seems like I have a lot of time to still learn