What Every New Gardener Should Know

Love your soil

What Every New Gardener Should Know

What’s the most important thing for a gardening newbie to know?

This question could be answered in so many different ways. A very simple answer is: love your soil, and your soil will love you back. Creating a healthy soil environment sets you up for success - you’ll enjoy better vegetables, stronger shrubs and trees, and plenty of flowers throughout the year.

Take time to get to know your garden, especially before starting any big projects. Notice what direction the wind comes from, how sunlight moves across the space during the day, how well your soil drains, what type of soil you have, and which plants already thrive there. 

Often a wander around your neighbourhood can also give you a good sense of what grows well in your local conditions.

Most importantly, don’t rush into new plantings. Taking time to understand your patch first leads to far more satisfying gardening in the long run.

Guides
All Gardening Guides
Topic

More like this

Should I Lift Bulbs Every Year or Leave Them in the Ground?
Should you lift your bulbs every year or can you leave them in?
Vegetable Seed Sowing for Weekly Family Meals
What’s the best way to work out how many seeds to sow, and how to stagger planting, so you grow enough vegetables to help feed your family each week or month?
Our Story
A Bit About Us: New Zealand family-owned and operated, we combine three generations of expertise with modern manufacturing and technology to craft high-quality growing media.
Low Growing Tomatoes
I would like to have a go at growing tomatoes that don’t need staking, similar to those grown round the Mediterranean. Can you suggest a suitable variety?
Tomatoes Types
I would to grow tomatoes that don’t need staking, similar to those grown around the Mediterranean. Will I be able to achieve that here in Dunedin?
How to Grow Blueberries
Learn how to grow delicious blueberries successfully, with expert advice on soil preparation, planting, watering, feeding, pruning and harvesting.
Spraying Roses
Please can you outline a spraying schedule for roses. Each year I’ve used Shield and Super Shield and still the leaves look awful. Do I need to look at a winter clean up?
Growing Passionfruit in Containers
I have been given a passion fruit vine which I have planted in a large tub. It is thriving, so can I keep it in the tub or should I plant it in the garden?
Planting and Growing Lemon Trees in Pots
Can you successfully grow a lemon tree in a big planter pot? How do you look after it and also are there plants/herbs that can be grown in the same container?
Hydrangeas and Colour
I enjoy the beautiful colours of our hydrangeas but not so much when the colour fades and start to look washed out. Is there anything I can do to rejuvenate the hydrangeas and enhance the colour for a longer period of time?
Planter Box Vegges
How often should I water and fertilise my vegetables (tomatoes, lettuce etc) which are in a planter box? Also, what’s the best way to deter the cats from using my planter boxes as their toilet?
Scale on Roses
I have 3 roses with bad scale, I have tried every remedy I can think of including natural. What can I use to eliminate this? It has not spread to others, yet. Is moving them the best idea?