Gardening 101: Developing greener fingers
So, your horticultural knowledge is about as advanced as your ability to solve a Rubik’s cube. Put simply, you don’t have a clue about plants, greenery or foliage. This doesn’t mean you don’t want to enhance your green fingers. If you’ve recently bought your first home, or if your garden is more jungle-like rather than cool al fresco dining area, you might want to develop your knowledge of flowers and shrubbery. Gardening isn’t the realm of older people only and is now being seen as a relaxing pastime for any age to enjoy. Take a look at these simple ways that you can develop greener fingers.
Image via Pixabay
Plants
If you’ve purchased the odd plant or two before only to see them die within a week, then you must be doing something wrong. Every species of plant is unique, and as such requires different care. Some plants love the sunshine, others prefer a little more shade. Some plants need bucketfuls of water, and others you can drown quite easily with a watering can. Don’t worry about these extremes in care instructions. If you are purchasing plants ensure that you buy your plants from a reputable garden center and ask for their advice. The knowledgeable staff may even give you useful web links and advice leaflets. Look for plants with their labels attached. On the back of these, there is often information such as flowering dates, when to sow seeds and care instructions. Just because you haven’t had much plant success in the past doesn’t mean you cannot take care of a plant and see it flourish.
Inside
Start with your interior rather than going straight to landscaping your rear or front garden. Take a look here at the fiddle leaf fig tree, purchase one of your own and take care of this interior plant. Giving yourself a practice run with a tropical tree that you can grow indoors will give you a taste of what it will be like to care for an entire garden. Interior plants are great mood lifters and can add a natural touch of greenery to any living space. Who needs artificial decor when you can have the life-giving touch of nature.
Planting Image Credit
Layout and Design
When planning your garden area, keep it simple. Wildflower areas can pretty much take care of themselves as can alpine rockery features with some hardy plants that will survive over winter. Choose your flowering dates wisely to ensure that your garden can be enjoyed all year round. Daffodils are wonderful for the spring, and rose bushes can look elegant in the summer and autumn. Fruit trees can be great additions to the garden and can be utilized for delicious jams, chutneys, and pies. That is of course if you can stop eating all the lovely fresh fruit! Ensure that your soil is well watered and fed with nutrients, and enjoy taking the plunge with your flowers and shrubs.
Even if you have no prior gardening experience, you can develop your green fingers. If you want to take it seriously, you could even enroll in an evening class to enhance your horticultural knowledge. Before long, you’ll be spending your weekends in the garden tending to your shrubs. Green fingers can be taught!
Deborah Hunter Kells
I have a wide range of interests and the top of my list is people and relationships. I appreciate our big wide world and nature which tries so hard to deal with what we do to it. I enjoy learning and am a “forever student”. I would love to hear about you and what you have experienced – that one or both of us may learn.
Great tips, we had our first garden this year and I LOVED it, but not everything grew well! Can’t wait to try again next year. (I cannot ever keep inside plants alive!!)
It’s a bit of trial and error… Nicole – have you heard of the “Cast Iron plant” – it’s not called that for a reason. It is very hardy and very difficult to bring to a fatal end. It is very attractive with long dark green soft spears.
I absolutely love gardening. Unfortunately not because I’m really great at it but because it’s really relaxing. I usually just pick a few plants and hope they work out LOL. Thanks for the great post!
Me too Sasha – love what you produce 🙂
I love having plants around me and I am pretty good at keeping them alive…But I think I have killed an indoor orchid…too much water. I am crossing my fingers it may come back in a few months.
Uh Oh – sounds familiar – killing a plant with a “good thing” thinking more is better – yes I can “truly” relate!
Good tips! Thanks for that! I do not exactly have a green thumb and can use all the help I can get. haha.
I have, however, been able to keep my Christmas cactus and succulents alive, so I will call that a success – despite the fact that my succulents always end up super “leggy” lol.
Ah – sometimes Kristin – you need all the help you can get. I learned that by water-logging a succulent which was meant to be easy to
grow. Oh well – you learn! and learn some more
I love this post. I do consider myself to have green fingers……before I got to this country. It’s too cold for most of the year! I still do try. Thanks for the inspiration x
There is always room for improvement – no matter what it is.
My mom is excellent with plants but I did not inherit that gift 😀 This article was so insightful for me and now I know why my indoor plants die! I’m going to look into the fiddle leaf fig tree. Thank you for sharing,
Amira at ASelfGuru.com
Amira – there are some plants that are hardy and some “not so much” – I prefer hardy!
These are good tips for the beginner or someone who has been at it for awhile
Yes – we all learn that sometimes we can go awry on the basics Candy
These are some great tips. I definitely like starting with the interior plants. Also the idea of wildflowers that needs less maintenance. Life is so busy I always feel that I don’t have time to cultivate a garden properly but I do love them.
We can have a small bit of nature around us sometimes if we can’t have it as big as we would like Jen 🙂
I used to have a black thumb haha. Thankfully my husband is the plant whispered! Tips like this are such a huge help. Having plants around is so uplifting and wonderful. But only if you know how to keep them alive 😅. Thanks for sharing!
Yes – Sara – the secret is keeping them alive – lol… A plant whisperer – great to have one in the family 🙂
Thanks for sharing some tips to help me mature from brown thumb toward a green thumb. 😀
I had a yellow thumb Vox – it just got mixed with some blue to bring out a bit more green Lol