Gardening Tips for Beginners

Do you want to grow a garden?

There are many reasons to dig in, including to:

-Eat delicious, fresh, local, organic food.

-Save money and avoid wasteful packaging, e.g., a small urban lot with less than 0.024 hectares (0.06 acres) in production might enjoy yields worth $3,500 to $6,000 per year!

-Enjoy physical and mental health benefits of digging in the dirt (soil microbes).

-Help pollinators.

-Take climate action. Did you know “greenhouse gas emissions can be cut by 2 kilograms for every kilo of homegrown vegetable when compared to the store-bought counterpart?”

WHERE AND HOW WILL YOU PLANT?

Sketch a sun map

Is your yard, balcony or windowsill in full shade, part shade, full sun or a combination? No need to guess. Find out how to map or sketch the sun’s daily pattern. You’ll save time and money planting in the correct place and you’ll learn how to interpret instruction tags on plants. Did you know “full sun” means the site receives more than six hours of sunlight each day? Beware of frost pockets (dips or the lowest part of your yard) and note if you need wind protection.

Get your lawn off grass

Use sheet mulch instead of tearing up sod. Put down about three layers of cardboard (free from tape and/or staples) to smother lawn. Then add soil, compost or raised beds and get planting annuals and perennials — maybe start a food forest! Free arborist wood chips are great for trails between beds. Call a tree-trimming company to ask for a free load or flag down a truck chipping in your neighbourhood.

Tip: Fill raised beds with 30-40 centimetres of soil and compost.

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