Get started with gardening
From a community field to patch in your back yard, gardening is a great way to get outdoors and stay active.
A garden is a rewarding habit for more reasons than one; it requires patience and attention to detail and offers an opportunity to get creative and enjoy nature.
What’s more, gardening helps increase energy and maintains flexibility, endurance and strength. Studies have even shown seniors who garden have reported a better quality of life. Pair this with the temperate British climate, and there’s no reason not to roll up your sleeves and get started gardening.
First steps
Even if you’re just a beginner, it’s not difficult to get started with gardening, and the Internet is a great place to learn more about this popular pastime.
The BBC offers advice on how to be a gardener and covers off simple techniques, along with a range of other subjects to help you understand the basics – from design to growing your own vegetables.
No matter what time of the year you get started, it’s important to know the planting season in the UK as different flowers and vegetables have different planting and harvesting times. If you need advice about how to create a hanging basket, lay a lawn or how and when to remove large branches, the website UK Gardening is a wealth of useful resources and how to guides. You can learn helpful tips, and the website is updated regularly to give helpful advice for your home garden throughout the year.
Growing your own garden
If you don’t have space at home to grow your own garden or vegetable patch, there’s still plenty of ways to get involved with gardening.
Along with being a rich resource chalk full of information about courses and events, the Royal Horticultural Society is a great place to find out more about community gardening and to locate clubs and societies near to where you live. This website also has its own blog and forum called My Garden, where you can find advice from enthusiasts up and down the country who share your passion for gardening.
Handy resources like the Telegraph’s guide to spring gardening can be found in the newspaper’s dedicated section for gardeners and offer regular stories and features to help inspire and motivate you along the way. And if you enjoy reading about gardening, the Guardian’s Gardening Blog is another great place to learn about the experiences of others who share your passion.
Finding the right gear
Maintaining a successful garden doesn’t just take a careful watch – the right soil, seeds and equipment will go a long way to transforming your vision into reality. You can find everything you need on a visit to a local garden centre – most of the staff here are also gardeners themselves and can share tips and advice about what’s best for you as you start out. There are Dobbies centres all over the UK, and before you make a visit, the website has lots of informative how to guides covering everything from weed control to attracting wildlife.
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