Where do you go when...

[A.Lyric]

What has been your biggest contributor to successful gardening? What have you learned that has been most helpful? Where do you go when you need help?

The only thing that outweighs my enthusiasm for gardening is my ignorance. Why I became so enamored with something I knew so little about, I can't explain. When I started three years ago, I had no idea what a staggering learning curve it would be.

I researched topics online, I've watched videos, I've read hundreds of web sites on hundreds of topics. What I slowly came to realize is how contradictory, incomplete, unreliable, error-ridden, or downright wrong much of what I depended on for guidance actually was.

I've moved past the “Well, I need some dirt and a seed!” stage, and have a somewhat better concept of what I need to know, which is overwhelming in itself. But I'm hooked. When you need reliable, trustworthy, factual, helpful info...where do you go?

A relative, book, web site?

 

[vegiokragrapevibrant]

Embracing that learning curve is what makes gardening exciting and keeps us coming back for more!
When it comes to reliable gardening info, I've found that a combination of trusted sources works best for me. I rely on a mix of experienced gardeners in my family, some good ol' gardening books for solid advice, and a few reliable websites or forums where I can ask questions and connect with fellow plant enthusiasts. It's all about finding that sweet spot of trustworthy, factual information to guide you on your green journey.

 

[pepper]

I have been gardening since I was in diapers. Not literally gardening but my dad had me in the garden for me to play around whenever he was out there. 40 or so years later never missing a year of gardening I still learn new things. I think most of my knowledge aside from leaning from my dad and personal trials and errors would be from online. Places like this forum. I am not shy to ask questions, no matter how silly they sound. I question everything and don't accept one answer as set in stone without research. I have only recently started to try new things and test science for myself. I owe most things in my life I've learned and discovered to online. Even my career.

 

[pepper]

Probably one thing I love more then anything for personal learning when it comes to gardening is when someone says to me don't bother when science proves it is possible lol

 

[big rockpile]

I've been dealing with Gardening all my life mostly for food.

In the past Hunting and Fishing was it. I can no longer go and here at the house most the time so I changed my interest.

I was a Seedsman for years but I dealt with Grain and Fescue.

big rockpile

 

[A.Lyric]

Embracing that learning curve is what makes gardening exciting and keeps us coming back for more!
When it comes to reliable gardening info, I've found that a combination of trusted sources works best for me. I rely on a mix of experienced gardeners in my family, some good ol' gardening books for solid advice, and a few reliable websites or forums where I can ask questions and connect with fellow plant enthusiasts. It's all about finding that sweet spot of trustworthy, factual information to guide you on your green journey.

" I've found that a combination of trusted sources works best for me."

Which is what I'm looking for, the key word being trustworthy. Do you have a favorite gardening book? Thank you for responding.

 

[A.Lyric]

I have been gardening since I was in diapers. Not literally gardening but my dad had me in the garden for me to play around whenever he was out there. 40 or so years later never missing a year of gardening I still learn new things. I think most of my knowledge aside from leaning from my dad and personal trials and errors would be from online. Places like this forum. I am not shy to ask questions, no matter how silly they sound. I question everything and don't accept one answer as set in stone without research. I have only recently started to try new things and test science for myself. I owe most things in my life I've learned and discovered to online. Even my career.

I imagine growing up around gardening is a huge positive influence. I not only didn't grow up with gardening, I don't know a single person who gardens. I've depended a lot on what I see/read/hear online and still do, but I've learned to be skeptical and not swallow everything hook, line, and sinker like I did at the beginning.

What new things have you tried if you don't mind my asking? And thanks for your response.

 

[pepper]

I imagine growing up around gardening is a huge positive influence. I not only didn't grow up with gardening, I don't know a single person who gardens. I've depended a lot on what I see/read/hear online and still do, but I've learned to be skeptical and not swallow everything hook, line, and sinker like I did at the beginning.

What new things have you tried if you don't mind my asking? And thanks for your response.

I've always grown the same things, the same variety of crops each and every year. But I have been trying to grow new things and new verities. Also my dad always let cucumbers grow on the ground, he never did anything to let them climb. I learned that works but saving space and avoiding pests as well as getting a much better harvest means building something for them to climb on. I learned that from online. There are so many things I do differently now. Even using grow lights to start my plants from seed while there is still snow on the ground rather then buying disease infested plants from a store. I am making my own fertilizers instead of buying. Fish fertilizer, bone meal, all that stuff I would rather watch 1000 different videos and read 1000 articles to learn how to do it myself the best way possible then buy it. Question everything because it's hard for an old dog to learn new tricks but science can teaches us new things and better ways each and every day.

 

[Eeilee]

I learned a lot from my great grandparents as a kid but as an adult my sources of info have been Gardeners World ( Monty Don and friends) , gardening books and lately this forum.
A lot of gardening for me has been trial and error and experience.
Much of your success and failure can be due to so many factors like climate, weather, your soil type and PH, whether or not your pests outweigh your beneficial insects and birds etc.
I love gardening even when something fails.
It’s the only thing in life for me that doesn’t feel like a waste of time even when it doesn’t go as planned.

 

[Sean Regan]

Each to their own, but I'm not a gardener, I'm more a garden manager. What I know is from reading books and magazines, my parents lived in a flat when I was a child so no garden, they didn't buy a house until after my sister and I left home.

I like to think I'm good at garden planning.

When we moved into this house, half the garden was devoted to veg and there was a big cedar greenhouse in the right-hand bottom corner. I got rid of the veg and made it all to lawn so the kids had somewhere to play. With just a border with a few plants down the left- hand side.
Then I decided we could have a proper patio instead of the ex-council paving stones outside the lounge.
I had a concrete raft laid and had the sense to stick a multi-strand armoured cable from the house to the garage under it. I paved it with crazy terrazzo, full slabs would have been dangerous when wet so I broke them up and built a brick quadrant for a pre-formed fish pond in 1976.

Over time we bought more plants for the border, but in 1985 when our third child was seventeen, the other two already making their way in the world. I made my long-term plan. I decided to have a bigger fish pond. 12ft by 9ft by 18" deep. I also built a pergola on the back of the house. The first Japanese lantern came after I finished.
I bought several pallets of York stone, ripped up the terrazzo and made a new patio and I laid the paths.

There's a lot of rocks in that rockery.

Believe it or not, after it was finished, I decided to get into koi so the following year dug it out to 5ft deep and built a room in the garage for the filter and a 300 gall quarantine tank.

My wife insisted on a balustrade in case she fell in so I made it a part of another pergola. I built the second lantern and the little pagoda,

Also, the tea-house after a bit of research in Manchester Central library, came last. It houses another of my hobbies.

The acer tree in front of the tea-house had to be moved as it would get in the way.

So it's lived here in the front garden since 1986. Each winter I take between six inches and a foot off it all round to stop it getting too big.

I always had a "plan B" for the koi pool if I got tired of the hobby. I didn't, but after thirty-odd years it developed a leak so I had it filled in and paved over as I had intended, it's now our "rose patio."

The fountain sits over the old koi pool sump sump so I was able to use the original cables. There's lots of lights in the garden, they and the fountain are controlled by four switches behind the lounge curtains via the armoured cable I laid in 1976, without any idea then what I was going to do with it.

All electrics in the garden are via "mission control."

As I said I'm not a gardener, no time for propagation other than a bit of acer layering. I've too many other hobbies.
We just add plants when and where we like, if we get fed up with any they either get given away or binned.
I probably spend around £1000 a year on the garden on plants and replacing equipment, but it's our choice.
Everyone starting a garden should have a long term plan, the first bit should be that nearest the house, the sight of it from a window should encourage you to do the next bit, as and when time and money are available.

If you've the time and interest in propagation and good at DIY you can achieve similar results, but it will take more time.

 

[A.Lyric]

Sean Regan, this site didn't c/p your post, but your energy, motivation, and skill level in creating what you have created is beyond impressive! Truly stunning.

Also out of my league. I have a few containers and raised beds for vegetables. lol

 

[Sean Regan]

Sean Regan, this site didn't c/p your post, but your energy, motivation, and skill level in creating what you have created is beyond impressive! Truly stunning.

Also out of my league. I have a few containers and raised beds for vegetables. lol

Thanks for that.
As I always say, "each to their own," if people are happy with what they can do and have then it's certainly worth the effort.

 

[A.Lyric]

I learned a lot from my great grandparents as a kid but as an adult my sources of info have been Gardeners World ( Monty Don and friends) , gardening books and lately this forum.
A lot of gardening for me has been trial and error and experience.
Much of your success and failure can be due to so many factors like climate, weather, your soil type and PH, whether or not your pests outweigh your beneficial insects and birds etc.
I love gardening even when something fails.
It’s the only thing in life for me that doesn’t feel like a waste of time even when it doesn’t go as planned.

What is your favorite gardening book?

When I started, I didn't see a single earthworm in my garden soil. Even I knew that wasn't a good sign. So I decided I needed to “build my soil”, whatever that meant. I went online and waded through a lot of unfamiliar words like “rock dust”, “biochar”, etc. Utterly confusing stuff.

I did what made sense to me at the time. Nature is amazing, but amazingly slow! It has taken two years to see a dramatic improvement but this spring, finally, my raised beds are teeming with earthworms. That has gone a long way to improving not only my soil, but my confidence.

I still don't go to the garden without my iphone. If I see a new-to-me bug, I try to take a pic and look it up later. I read once that if all the world's bugs were divided among all the world's people, we'd each have over a billion bugs. My billion seem to stay pretty close to home, dang 'em.

Thank you for sharing Gardener's World. I will look it up.

 

[A.Lyric]

I've always grown the same things, the same variety of crops each and every year. But I have been trying to grow new things and new verities. Also my dad always let cucumbers grow on the ground, he never did anything to let them climb. I learned that works but saving space and avoiding pests as well as getting a much better harvest means building something for them to climb on. I learned that from online. There are so many things I do differently now. Even using grow lights to start my plants from seed while there is still snow on the ground rather then buying disease infested plants from a store. I am making my own fertilizers instead of buying. Fish fertilizer, bone meal, all that stuff I would rather watch 1000 different videos and read 1000 articles to learn how to do it myself the best way possible then buy it. Question everything because it's hard for an old dog to learn new tricks but science can teaches us new things and better ways each and every day.

Wow! You make your own fish fertilizer and bone meal? I'm impressed! I seed start with grow lights, and I do trellis everything I can because my space is limited. I tried DIY hot composting, but turning that pile in 90 degrees every day was grueling. I decided buying compost might be less expensive than a trip to the hospital.

My “new things” this year are Beit Alpha Cucumbers and Sun Sugar Cherry Tomatoes. Thank you for responding!

 

[pepper]

Wow! You make your own fish fertilizer and bone meal? I'm impressed! I seed start with grow lights, and I do trellis everything I can because my space is limited. I tried DIY hot composting, but turning that pile in 90 degrees every day was grueling. I decided buying compost might be less expensive than a trip to the hospital.

My “new things” this year are Beit Alpha Cucumbers and Sun Sugar Cherry Tomatoes. Thank you for responding!

It's honestly not very impressive. For the fish emulsion all you have to do is toss some fish in a bucket, add some leaf compost then fill it up with molasses and water. Put the lid on with an airlock to keep out bugs and flies and let it sit for a few months out of sight out of mind lol. Same organic stuff that costs a small fortune in the stores but it's free and almost no work to it. Making bone meal is just as easy. Chicken, turkey, venison bones all work. Just boil/simmer them for a few hours like you are making stock. Then let them sit in the sun for a while and once dried out completely they will crumble. Then put them in an old blender you pick up at a yard sale for $5 and turn them into powder. I also throw all my bone and meat scraps into my fire pit and they just turn to ash. Then toss it onto the compost or till it into the garden. The fish fertilizer is something new for me.

This year I am growing new things I haven't grown yet like hybrid gypsy peppers, pimento peppers, sweet cubanelle peppers, hot Durango peppers, lemon cucumbers and another kind I forget off hand the name of, scarlet nante carrots, Paris island romaine lettuce, and Simpson lettuce. The rest is my usual stuff like beefsteak tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, red and yellow onions and national pickling cucumbers... Dill and everything else that comes up by itself each year.

I have never tried belt alpha cucumbers or sun sugar cherry tomatoes, sounds interesting! You should take some pics to post come harvest, I'd love to see them

Nothing wrong with buying compost. I just do it the lazy way and toss everything in a heap. My neighbors dogs always get into it and dig around so I don't have to bother turning it lol! I don't know what they eat in it because it's mostly manure, rotting fruits, veggies, coffee grounds, leafs, twigs and weeds but they must have some rancid gas after snacking on it lol. I am starting a new method with barrels. Once a week kicking them around the ground like Donkey Kong to stir them up. Also started a hardwood pile to get some mushroom fertilizer.