Hindsight is a wonderful thing: After you’ve planted, say, a tree in the wrong spot, everything becomes clearer and more crystallized—including where you should have planted it. Making mistakes is a vital part of understanding why a design works, or why a plant will thrive in one place but not in another.
When I started my garden from scratch ten years ago, I knew very little about actual gardening. My experience was limited to arranging a few pretty pots to have around the house, my plantsmanship was near zero, and I had very little funds to throw away on errors. Yet, that didn’t stop me from making them. Here are a few of the bigger mistakes I made when designing and planting a garden from scratch.
Photography by Clare Coulson.
1. Being impatient.
Recently I’ve been working on a book, interviewing many landscape designers, and a commonality that emerges is that, in their own gardens, they all watch and wait. The time spent doing nothing more than staring at the garden allows them to observe trees, shrubs, and plants in all seasons. Watching and waiting also allows them to understand how the light falls in the garden at different times of year, how the weather moves through the garden, and how they themselves move through it—all of which will then inform their eventual garden design and planting.
2. Making the beds too narrow.
Without exception, I’ve made almost all of my borders wider over time where possible, and if I were starting over again, I’d make them even deeper. Generous borders are more impactful and allow bolder views across plantings and more complex compositions.
3. Planting trees too late.
If you have space to plant trees, then make this one of your earliest interventions since they take years and years to mature. I wish I’d planted a field of trees or an orchard when I arrived at my garden; instead I procrastinated for years and my field is still a relatively blank canvas.
4. Not prioritizing soil quality.
Consider carefully your dirt. If you’re moving earth around or taking up turf, keep it in a pile to reincorporate into the garden as topsoil. When creating new borders, add as much humus-rich organic matter as you can into any planting areas—it’s far easier to do this at the outset of your garden-making, when you have room to work and make a mess. And if you are creating paths or borders with straight lines, then take the time to get them truly straight—a wonky straight line will annoy you for years to come.
5. Forgetting to consider maintenance.
Even after ten years in my garden I still forget to consider the maintenance required as I am planning yet another cultivated area. If I could do it all over again, I’d think more carefully about what I realistically had time to manage. Not all borders are equal in terms of upkeep. It’s probably one reason why I now lean towards trees and shrubs.
6. Focusing only on the plants.
Considering logistics at the outset of your garden plan is a good idea—not only the orderly storage of all your tools and accessories (gardening is a lot more pleasant when you know where you will find your trowel/gloves/buckets), but also any infrastructure required. During some building work, I’ve recently added some soft lighting to garden paths. In the darker months it allows us to enjoy the garden for longer each day, but it would have been far easier to install these electrics before I’d made the garden.
7. Tolerating so-so plants.
Rather than buy impulsively, take the time to really look at the plants you choose for your garden. Do you love them and do they suit the site? Look out for awards such as the RHS Award of Garden Merit, which means that this is a garden-worthy plant that has been put through trials with horticulturalists. If you are considering a plant with many forms or cultivars, make sure to do the research and choose the best one to suit your needs.
8. Going too soft with the palette.
Harmonious color schemes can be beautiful and soothing, which is why I went with calming lilacs and purples when I planned my garden. But a jolt of rich red or intense yellow or lime can add zing to a scheme.
Read the entire A Garden from Scratch series here (in order):
- A Garden from Scratch: How to Start Designing Your Outdoor Space
- A Garden from Scratch: How to Build a Strong Foundation
- A Garden from Scratch: How to Begin the Plant Selection Process
- A Garden from Scratch: How to Choose Plants and Put Them Together
- A Garden From Scratch: How to Plant for Success (A Case Study)
- A Garden from Scratch: 7 Ways to Save Money When Creating a Garden
Have a Question or Comment About This Post?
Join the conversation