"I think the most important thing, whether it is an established garden that you have moved into or a brand-new garden, is to take your time. If is established, learn what is there, observe what the sun does, what the wind does, what the views from the house are and so on.
“Do not rush in too quickly, but the first thing to do really quickly is to make sure you have somewhere to sit. If money is in short supply, even just adding some gravel so that it is a clean, dry place to sit, can make all the difference.
“So, take your time, but the view from the house is so important, make sure out of every window that overlooks your garden, you are treated to a great view to look at so that even if you do not go out, it still invites you. If you have a seat as part of your view, you can just imagine yourself sitting there, even when it has four inches of snow sitting on it!
“If you know someone with a new garden, whether established or not, a great housewarming gift is a big pot with a shrub and two or three perennials in it, which they can enjoy immediately. Eventually, once they have learned about the garden, they can take them out of the pot and plant them permanently in the ground.”
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“I would say plan. Sit down with a pencil and paper and sketch out your area, where the sun rises and where the sun sets, keep track of that throughout the year and note how it changes. Maybe even draw areas of shade in the bits that seem to be shady at different times of the day.
“This will mean that when you first go to a garden centre, when you look at the back of the label of the plants, if it says shady or sun-loving, you will know exactly where it goes. I would say that this is a mistake we made far too often at the very beginning, because we did not sit down and make a plan. We started just bunging plants in the ground and we probably wasted an awful lot of money doing that.
“I would definitely suggest improving your soil and improve it every year. This is not just about putting some compost in and planting up your plants and then that's it done, improve your soil.
“Look at what resources are local to you. We are very lucky that we have the seaside beside us, there is a huge quarry not that far away from us and a huge lumber manufacturer close by, so we always knew those were resources that we could pick up very cheaply and very easily. When you start going along to the big homeware stores, things can get very expensive very quickly. If you try and look at what is local to you, it will actually make your money go a lot further, plus your garden will better reflect the environment that you are in.”
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“Start small, do not be overwhelmed and never be afraid of making mistakes – there is no such thing as making a mistake. You would not put off buying a sofa for 30 years because you were frightened of buying a new colour! If a plant dies, it is just a plant. Just try things.
“This is your green space. Do not go with trends, do what you like. If you want garden gnomes or colour clashes, do whatever you like.
“Have a look at whatever works in your neighbours’ gardens. Just keep experimenting and ask for lots of advice.
“And mulch, mulch, mulch!
“Plus, if you move into a house and you do not like the plants in the garden, either give them away or put them in a compost heap. You would not live with someone else's sofa, you would not live with someone else's hideous wallpaper – so do not live with someone else’s plants. Life is too short to live with things you do not like, and life is too long to get it wrong.”
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