Gardening in Spring for Beginners

Your new gardens, front and back, are as much a feature of your new home as your kitchen. Whether you plan to have these spaces landscaped or you and the family are budding green thumbs, getting started is much easier than you think.

Know your environment

You likely know your site with Eden Brae like the back of your hand. And knowing everything from the soil type, orientation of your home, its contour and the surrounding environment will come in very handy when choosing your garden aspect and plants. Knowing your climate will help you choose the flowers and veggies suited to your new home.

When you’re planting, choose a spot that gets around six to eight hours of sun a day. Avoid anywhere that might get windy or waterlogged in the rainier spring days, like the bottom of hills.

Sustainable soil

The dirty part of beginner gardening is getting your soil prepared. But doing it well once will save you plenty of time over the spring months. A rich soil from your local garden centre made of mulch, manure and compost will give your garden some great growing power.

Mulch is a great contributor to an easy-to-manage garden. It retains moisture and stops the growth of weeds. What’s more, it comes in a variety of colours to play off your garden foliage.

Throughout your gardening journey, you’ll want to top off your plants with valuable nutrients. Luckily, a compost bin or bokashi bucket is an ideal sustainable food waste bin!

Start small. We all know that from little things…

When we start gardening, we all aim for maximum enjoyment from minimal effort. Choose plants that won’t take up the weekend with garden care, especially in the spring months when we want to be showing off our garden to guests!

Low maintenance plants are a huge time saver. Many native species like acacias, lilacs and crimson bottlebrush are ideal for busy families. They require little water, virtually no pruning and can attract a tremendous variety of birds.

A new garden is an adventure. Start with a small garden bed, under a metre, and you might find growing tomatoes, petunias and turnips is your life’s calling!