A lot of failed new gardens aren’t due to lack of work or dedication, but because the wrong plants were selected for the site. Pretty leaves in a garden centre can trick you into planting in full sun, when the garden itself is in shade, or that your soil isn’t as free-draining as you hoped. If your yard is in shade, it will never be green, and if it’s waterlogged, your drought-tolerant plants will mysteriously dwindle. Understanding this is the quickest way to achieve success.
Simply start by focusing on one small section of the yard at a time rather than trying to pack in a full yard all at once. Watch that one small section for a few days, and see if it stays mostly sunny, shady, wet, or dry. A simple exercise to try is to pick 3 plants that prefer the same conditions and not to try to combine plants. This will be a small test bed to see how the plants do. If they look good, have turgid leaves and are putting out new growth then it is a good match. If they turn yellow or are wilting it is a bad match and you should adjust as quickly as possible.
Finally, consider spacing. A common mistake of novice gardeners is to plant too close together as seedlings. That’s because they are small and there is a lot of bare soil. As the roots grow out and the leaves grow out, they become crowded, reducing air circulation and increasing competition for water and nutrients. The plants are consequently spindly and more prone to disease. Counteract this tendency by visualizing the plants at their full size, and planting farther apart than seems necessary. It won’t take long for them to fill in.
There’s also a lot of uncertainty about watering. It makes sense to want to give each plant the same amount of water, but certain plants like to be watered more deeply and less often to develop a stronger root system. Others prefer to be watered more lightly and frequently. Before you water, take a second to poke your finger down into the soil. If it’s still wet, don’t water it. Overwatering is a much bigger issue in a new garden than underwatering.
As they get established, you don’t see huge differences so much as you see little differences. If a plant is bending toward a light source, or not flowering as much as you like, or if the leaves are getting a little yellow, then you need to take action. You should move it, water it differently, enrich the soil, but you don’t necessarily need to throw the plant out. After a while, if you keep looking and tinkering, it isn’t so much about the right plant as it is about learning how to work with living things. Eventually you’ll have a garden that seems balanced, hardy, and simple to tend.