The first three steps to improving your gardening skills

1. Get to know your plants

The trick to effective plant care? Understanding what each needs. It’s simple, really. 

Different plants require different conditions. Some need plenty of water where others thrive in drier environments. Some prefer clay soil where others prefer sand. Some might need consistent pruning where others can grow happily left alone.

Plant according to the conditions in your garden. And learn what you can about each species before planting. It’s the best way of making sure they thrive. 

Got a plant already growing but unsure what it needs? Take a sample to your local garden centre – they’ll be able to offer advice and lead you in the right direction.

2. Learn why, not just how

We might set off gardening purely to improve the look of our outdoor space.

However, learning successful techniques and tricks can have a lot of unseen benefits, too.

Let’s take weeding as an example. We just need to pull up the unwanted growth to tidy up the garden. Use a garden fork instead of weeding by hand. This way, you’ll fully remove the roots – so preventing regrowth – and you’ll treat and aerate the soil. 

By simply changing your technique, you could encourage long term benefits –  instead of just achieving a short term look.

3. Try new things

Your garden is a blank canvas – be creative! As long as you plan and research any job or task thoroughly – no matter how big or small – you’ll struggle to go wrong.