Become A Better Gardener With These 5 Tips
Covid made a lot of thumbs dirty this year, but perhaps yours didn’t clean up into the shade of green you had hoped for. Fear not, with these 5 tips you can create the green thumb you are after and become a better gardener.
5 tips to a green thumb and becoming a better gardener:
Nonverbal Communication
All beings communicate, but few do so with words. Plants, pets and babies will express their needs but in order to understand and communicate we must build on our nonverbal communication skills. There is lots of information out there for applying this to humans and animals but less so for plants. What it takes is time and regular observation. What does the plant look like after a gentle rain, after a dry spell, are the leaves changing colour or texture? Soon you’ll begin to notice patterns and it will be as if the plant is speaking to you, asking for a drink, for some food or a new location.
Self Reflection
We need to be honest with our existing skills; both strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps you are like me and take on too many projects in the spring and then when summer is blooming you feel overwhelmed by the to-do list. Or maybe you are really good at planting a purchased plant, but starting from seeds, you just can’t make it work. Once you identify that you are good at certain aspects (yes shopping counts here!) you can play to those strengths which will help in feeling less like a failure. From here we can build on the weaknesses.
Curiosity
Sparking curiosity will make learning and honing a skill so much easier. When you reflect, observe what intrigues you. Is it design, colour, flavour, texture? Use this intrigue to pick the next projects or plants that you want to try. With a natural curiosity fueling you, you’ll be open to learning and it won’t feel like a chore. Before you know it, you’ll have a new garden skill mastered!
Fearlessness
Experienced farmers and home gardeners leave a margin for loss as losses are bound to happen! Each year the challenges will change, but the one consistent thing is that a, or many, plants won’t make it. So with that out of the way, what is the worst that can happen? You may kill a plant, or start a project and then have to call in skilled help, but all of it is salvageable! The garden is a patient and gentle teacher constantly showing us the beauty of letting go and the cycle of life. Overcoming fear looks different for many of us. I found the book Rejection Proof to be incredibly helpful in my own journey.
Experimentation
Taking action is where you will see the greatest leaps in skill. You can read all the blogs and watch all the YouTube videos, but until you try it you won’t be imprinting the skills into memory. If you don’t succeed as planned, swing back to tip 2 and begin again. By experimenting and pushing the boundaries of what can be done you’ll accomplish a few things:
You’ll already be open to it not succeeding and have accepted that as a potential outcome. Experiments are not guaranteed.You’ll become more aware of your own nuances and your spaces as well. Micro-climates, neighbouring elements, your tools and your attention can’t be accounted for by a general blog post meant for the masses. If you are able to do “control panels”, trying the same thing in a few spots, you’ll gain confidence and realize that sometimes failure wasn’t you, but was rather an environmental nuance.
So what does experimenting in the garden look like?
I try to pick a few things (2-3), each year that are new to me. This will often be a tool, a plant and a product or method. Some of my previous successes are hugelkultur raised garden beds, blueberries in a container, $0 heated “greenhouse” and although success is relative, my gutter garden.
This fall I tried out 3 new to me things. Planting garlic, amending my soil with compost tea from a local small batch supplier and an electric sprayer from Amazon.
My curiosity around garlic sent me digging for information and I learned so much. I’ve planted it in various areas, pushing the envelope of what is believed to be possible. Time will tell if this is a success or a waste of delicious garlic.
I’ve happily used chicken poop pellets for years but after an entire season of speaking with Sean from Crooked Farmz I was sold. I needed to try this. I applied it in certain areas and not others in order to see if I notice a difference, but the initial win: it was so much easier then topping up with manure or compost! A little goes a long way as it comes as a concentrate; 1 part tea to 20 parts water. Sean has loads of helpful information ready for exploring over on his site. With his guidance I’ve also come the closest I have ever been to getting a usable batch of compost, a topic that one day I will have mastered.
After having my children, the hospital sent me home with what has been one of my favourite gardening tools. A spray bottle meant for, ahem, ‘delicates’. For new seedlings and getting a good slow absorption rate in pots without trays it has served me for years. This fall I was gifted an electric sprayer by Tovia and have been putting it to the test. My favourite feature is the mist and that setting alone makes me wish I had it earlier in the year combined with the compost tea to help combat the numerous pests I had in my space. It has been rather handy with maintaining moisture levels in my cuttings and houseplants. This is a task that has been neglected a few years in a row now and oh, how they perked up after a little TLC. After 3 years with my trusty perineum bottles they have been put aside, replaced by this electric one. I have long hands and often feel that they don’t fit many tools, spray bottles included, which causes hand cramps. It’s why I loved the squishy perineum bottle! But this new sprayer goes and goes at the push of a button without any cramping, making it perfect for someone with arthritis or other hand mobility issues. It has also been thoroughly enjoyed by my little helper. I can imagine that it would make a lovely reprieve as a face sprayer after a hot summer day spent working in the garden.
