Gardening Mistakes I’ve Made

It’s been said that “gardening is a journey, not a destination”.  We plant things.  We move things.  We kill things.  We dig up things and throw them in the yard waste container.  Like many gardeners, I’m always trying to “get it right” so I have the perfect garden with the perfect plants in their perfect locations.  In my quest for the perfect garden, I’ve made lots of mistakes that cost time, money, and labor.   We all learn from our past and from each other.  Here are some of the big lessons I’ve learned in my quest for the perfect garden.

Read the Plant Tags, and then Read the Plant Tags again!

This is the single most important lesson I’ve learned on my gardening journey.  Plant tags contain lots of information such as where to plant, how much to water, and how far apart to space.  As a novice gardener who never read plant tags, I learned the hard way that all Hosta don’t grow to be the same size.  There are Hosta that are six inches wide at maturity and Hosta that grow to be almost six feet wide.  If you plant a miniature Hosta next to a giant Hosta, the miniature Hosta doesn’t stand a chance.

New varieties of plant species are released every year and plant characteristics vary greatly from one variety to the next.  Heuchera (Coral Bells) for example, now come in lots of colors that vary in size and have different light requirements.  By reading the tag on your new Heuchera, you’ll know how much sun it needs, how much water it likes, and how far apart from other plants it should be spaced so you don’t have to move it again as it reaches its mature size.

Don’t Plant a New Plant and then Walk Away

I’m great at buying plants.  I’m pretty good at planting plants.  I’m okay at watering plants for a week or so but then, I tend to walk away.  I am somewhat a “survival of the fittest” gardener and sometimes don’t stay with those new plants long enough to get them off to a fair start.  Some new plants survive with my lackadaisical approach to watering; those are my favorites that I will likely buy more of, but others need more TLC than I remember to give.  I often forget about my new plants until the following year, when poking around in the spring, I discover yet another abandoned plant tag.

Lower your Expectations for the First Year and Even the Second Year

“The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year they leap.”  You buy that beautiful plant and bring it home and plant it just waiting for it to look gorgeous and double in size that first year.  Though some plants might surprise you and meet your expectations, many will not.  A plant’s first and foremost job is establishing roots in its new home, which is all happening underground and out of sight.  Growing new foliage and producing blooms happens after roots have been established.

Year two is baby steps.  Your new plant has survived its first winter and continues to settle in and adapt to its new home.

Year three is the year we’ve all be waiting for.  Your plant comes up and is bigger and better than last year.  There’s new foliage, lots of buds, and soon to be lots of blooms.  Your plant is settled and happy and willing to stay awhile.

Consider Your Mulch or Rock Color and Your Backdrop Color when Selecting Plants

Most of us buy plants because we want them to stand out and enhance the look of our homes.  More than once I’ve come home with a new perennial or shrub, planted it, and stood back to enjoy its beauty, only to find that I’ve bought something that blends right in with my mulch or the back drop of my home.  “Where’s Waldo” comes to mind when trying to find my new, dark-leaved plant that blends in beautifully with my dark brown mulch.  When the plant flowers, the light-colored flowers may be visible for a short time but most of the time you see foliage, not flowers.  When a plant’s foliage is the same color as your mulch or the backdrop of your house, skip that purchase and go for the plant with the chartreuse foliage instead.  Unless you have chartreuse mulch or a chartreuse house, this chartreuse plant will stand out instead of blending in and you’ll be able to appreciate the beauty of your new plant.

Consider the Vigor of the Plant

Did I mention you should always read the plant tags?  When you read the tag and see words like “will naturalize” or “spreading” or “can be invasive”, don’t make the mistake I’ve made and buy the plant anyway.  Though the thought of a “spreading” plant sounds enticing when trying to fill a large garden space quickly, resist the urge to buy and walk away.  You won’t know the pain and suffering you’ve avoided, but take my word for it;  you’ve made a time-saving, back-saving, frustration-saving decision.

And Lastly, Do not Believe Everything you Read

Those plant tags I’ve been encouraging you to read; well, when talking about mature plant size, they don’t always tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  Most of us have smaller yards and gardens than we used to.  Smaller yards require smaller plants.  Plant breeders strive for smaller versions of our favorite plants, especially shrubs.  We want low or preferably, no maintenance plants that reach a certain size and stay there.  As a result of our desire for smaller, tidier plants, growers tend to underestimate the mature size of plants.  If a plant tag reads “3-4’ Tall and 3-4’ Wide”, you can bet it will reach ‘4-5’ Tall and 4-5’ Wide” at a minimum.  Knowing a plant will likely get larger than the tag says, is useful information when choosing plants and deciding where to plant them.

Gardening IS a journey, not a destination with many lessons learned the hard way.  Hopefully you can avoid some of my mistakes and maybe save some cash, save some labor, or enjoy gardening a little more.  Be realistic and expect that you’ll still move a few plants, kill a few plants, and dig up and dispose of a few plants.  That’s gardening for you and part of the journey along the road to that “perfect” garden.