Tips for first time gardeners

Never tried gardening? Start small!

If you have never so much as pulled out a weed and now feel the urge to get started - perhaps because you have bought a house - try not to get over-ambitious straightaway. If you make elaborate plans for large amounts of garden, the work will become too much and no part will work well. Take it slowly!

Don't rush to your local garden nursery and spend hundreds of pounds on plants either - be selective and prudent until you know a little about the soil conditions and your personal preferences, and until you habe thought about what you want from the garden - somewhere to sit, flowers, dramatic contrasts and so on.

Start with a small area  - an area 5 metres by 1 metre is usually a lot of work at first - remember that many plants you plant at this stage will need moving later when  you realise you planted them in the wrong place (unfortunate but inevitable!) This will keep the workload small while you learn whether you really do enjoy gardening, and how much time you are willing to spend on your new hobby.

A few very general hints to consider:

Think about where you will sit in the garden, and what you want to look at

Decide which parts of the garden get the most sunshine and which are shady - this has a big impact on which plants will thrive

Planting near big trees is often difficult because of the shade and the lack of water for other plants

Some plants grow very fast - consider the final height of any tree you plant, since moving a 20 metre high oak tree can be a challenge!

Check positions of drains and other underground conduits before you start - tree roots can dismantle a drainage pipe

Don't plant big trees next to a building, the roots can undermine your house foundations

If the soil has suffered from years of neglect, dig in some fertiliser before you start

Don't rush to chop down existing mature plants - they are hard to replace

Clear the terrain of rocks, rubble and debris before you start

Water plants only in early morning or evening - a thorough watering a couple of times a week tends to be more effective than a light surface watering every day

Use mulch - pine needles, bark etc - to cover bare soil. This helps reduce weed growth and reduce water loss from the soil.