As a new gardener, the most important thing you can do is to figure out what will work best in your growing space. Your garden has its own microclimate; over time, you will get to know it as one does a friend. You will learn its areas of light and shadow, the depth of its soil in different places, and where the roots of its many trees and shrubs sit beneath the surface. As this relationship develops, you’ll figure out how it reacts to challenges like heat, wind and rain; you’ll decide what can go, and what should stay.
If this all sounds a bit intimate, it really is. It doesn’t have to be so romantic, though. Your garden should suit your personality. Are you the type of person who likes to peek under the hood to see how the car works? Great – that’s what you need to do to understand your garden. Then you can ask: what can I grow?
Whether you’re working with an existing garden or creating a growing space completely from scratch, here are some basic factors to work through. Start with these and you’ll find it easier to move forward.
Can you grow in the ground? What are your options?
If you have open soil or turf, then simply put: yes, you can grow in the ground. There are a couple of ways to do this. They all start with digging and figuring out what your soil is like.
A lot of people ask whether they need to test their soil. In the UK, we mainly test soil for PH, though you can test for contaminants if you believe you live in an area that is at risk. I have never tested my soil – I didn’t feel the need – though I would do this if I noticed that nothing was growing.
A note on approaching an old or established garden: if there are mature plants or even trees in your garden that you don’t want, either move them or get rid of them. I dug a lot of old shrubs out of my garden before I got started with growing! There is no need to feel guilty about this (it took me three years to take out an old apple tree that had stopped producing. I should never have waited that long). You’ll need a strong fork and a fair whack of patience, but you’ll get there.
No-dig gardening is the simplest choice
If you want to put beds on top of grass or on top of soil unsuitable for growing, the no-dig method is the simplest and cheapest. Just mark out where you’d like your beds to be, lay down some cardboard, and add a good five inches of compost on top. Water it all in and you’re ready to sow. Worms will do the rest.
As weeds and grass can migrate into these beds over time, it is worth considering adding some form of border to the beds, or bark between the beds to create a path. Your local tree surgeon may be able to supply woodchip at low cost, or for free (I always ask them to fill up a few bags when they come out to me).
I like to use wooden edging rolls for beds as it is cheap and pretty, but there are all sorts of ways to edge a bed, such as using wood from old pallets or investing in metal edging kits (make sure they have been treated for rust).
Growing in-ground and assessing your soil
‘Ideal’ soil drains well, is soft, separates easily, and is free of roots, stones and rubble. Worms are an excellent sign of good soil. The truth is that few of us start with soil like this and we nearly always have to amend in some way as we get started.
If you have garden beds or open soil that are currently full of weeds, that’s a great sign – it means the ground is fertile and that plants enjoy growing there. Once you have cleared out those weeds, you can assess the soil. The best way to do this is to just have a good dig.
How deep is the soil? If it is less than six inches, you’ll need to add depth to grow things that stretch underground (carrots, parsnips, potatoes) or things that need a big root system (trees and large shrubs). Is the soil waterlogged? If it is, you will want to think about ways you can create drainage, or will need to plant things that enjoy being soggy. Is it full of rubble or stones? You’ll need to remove the rubble and large stones, but small stones are only a problem for things that grow underground. Is your soil full of sand or clay? You’ll need to amend it before planting, which means digging in lots of compost and manure. This is hard work but you’ll only have to do this once.
Where your ground or bed is full of roots from other plants, you can either dig those out, or decide to garden on top instead. The best way to do this is by using big pots or raised beds with some weed membrane lining. This will stop the roots taking over your fresh (and delicious) compost.
Soil will need ‘refreshing’ each growing season, but that doesn’t mean you have to throw away old compost and buy all new. Dig in natural fertiliser like manure, use natural feeds like seaweed or homemade comfrey feed, and consider top-dressing with an inch or two of compost.
What if your garden is paved?
If you have a paved garden with no open soil, don’t worry – you can grow almost anything (except large trees) in raised beds and pots. The trick is to make sure the soil is deep enough. For fenced areas, consider adding borders against the fences that you can fill with soil.
Can you grow things if you rent your home?
If you’re in rented accommodation and do not have permission to plant in-ground, get yourself some large pots. You can even grow in compost bags; just cut holes in them and treat them like raised beds.
Can you grow food inside?
Of course you can! There are lots of crops that can be grown in a conservatory or on a sunny windowsill. While you may not be able to produce the volume of an outdoor garden, you can keep yourself in salads all year long; lettuce, pea shoots, microgreens, dwarf tomatoes, peppers and chillis all do well indoors. Lemon trees can be a beautiful addition to a large window or conservatory.
What are the light levels like in your garden?
It is extremely helpful to understand which bits of your garden get the sun and the heat, and which parts are in shade. This will dictate what you can grow. A lot of this can be observed by going outside and looking around your growing space. Observing shadows is easier in the summer, so don’t worry if you have to do a bit of guess work for the time being!
If you have big, open areas with no shrubs or trees, these are likely to be sunnier spots. Areas beside mature shrubs and trees are likely to be shadier. Fences provide shelter from harsh wind, but are unlikely to provide shade for much of the day unless they are very tall. If your garden is south-facing then it is likely to get more sun.
You can amend your growing space to bring in more light and heat. I made the most of a sunnier spot in my garden by adding a polytunnel, which soaks up the light and heat from the sun all day to create a whole new climate inside. At the end of the garden, I get a fair amount of shade from the large tree, so adding raised beds has meant crops growing there get extra light but are not fighting the huge mature tree roots in the ground for nutrients.
If you don’t have space for a polytunnel or greenhouse, you can still add heat to beds by using cloches, cold frames or mini polytunnels. I once used mini polytunnels to grow melons outside (Collective Farm Woman variety) and it worked really well. I also use mini tunnels to protect my seedlings in early spring so they can go in-ground and establish their roots a little earlier.
What can you grow in the different areas of your garden?
The sunnier spots of your garden should be reserved for heat-loving crops: tomatoes, chillis, aubergines, cucumbers, strawberries and raspberries, squash and pumpkins, sweetcorn, beans, and warm weather herbs like basil. Most flowers prefer sunshine for a good proportion of the day. Dahlias love the sun, so keep them in the warmest spots.
For partial shade (or areas that get shade for some of the day), you can still grow most flowers – roses especially – and potatoes, peas, beans, garlic, lettuce and spinach, onions, brassicas, beetroot, chard, and radishes. Blueberries need some shade as full sun will scorch them, but strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries all do well in partial shade too.
There aren’t a lot of vegetables that will grow to their potential in full shade, but you can try brassicas, lettuce, carrots and parsnips, and even potatoes. For flowers, hellebores do well, and cornflowers and statice are so rampant that you’ll still get something. Spring bulbs like bluebells and crocuses will often come up in full shade. Cool weather herbs like parsley are happy in the shade, and though rosemary loves the heat, it is incredibly resilient and can survive just about anywhere.
For shrubs and trees, including fruit trees, spacing is the most important factor. The bigger they are, the further they need to be from other established trees – otherwise they will compete for light and root space, and will end up stunted.
If you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to growing food, you may find this useful: what kinds of food should I grow?
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