Creating new gardens or revamping an existing garden is fun, exciting and a great opportunity to spend time together. And one of the best parts is choosing new plants to start growing!
But if you’re a newbie gardener, or even a seasoned green thumb, sometimes we can be a little unsure or indecisive when it comes to picking out plants to grow.
(if you’re new to gardening you might find my Savvy Gardener Course helpful…CLICK HERE)
To help you choose the right plants for your garden spaces, I’ve put together a list of easy-to-grow plants and where to grow them.
Let’s get started.…
In ground – this is directly in the soil in your gardens and could be at ground level (sometimes called plots) or in raised garden beds (eg, corrugated iron, timber sleepers or concrete). Start with improving the soil (read this article HERE on building healthy soil) and then grow your favourite plants.
Most plants are suitable for growing in ground, except for mint, ivy or other plants that can take over the garden or could become a weed problem.
TIP – check your local council website for suggestions on what NOT to grow.
In ground try growing shrubs with fruit or flowers and then grow smaller plants or ground covers as border plants.
A few ideas are:
🍋 dwarf lemon or lime trees, surrounded by nasturtiums, with a border of chives, marigolds or calendula.
🌳 bay tree with ground covers of thyme, oregano or marjoram.
Blueberry, Pomegranate, Grumichama, Guava or Olive trees might also suit your garden in the right climate.
Annual/seasonal and perennial vegetables are also grown in the ground, in healthy soil, and are best mixed together (also known as inter-cropping) as good companions, to help deter pests and to reduce nutrient deficiencies in soil.
If you have the space try growing larger crops in ground, eg corn, pumpkins, zucchini, potato, sweet potato or melons and mix in nasturtiums, marigold, alyssum or sacred basil to attract the good bugs!
Pots or containers – are popular in most gardens as they can be placed in any location, moved when needed and take up less space than larger gardens.
There’s a large range of edible, medicinal and ornamental plants that grow really well in containers, so look for those varieties when choosing plants.
Many fruit trees are available as dwarf trees. These have hardy rootstock grafted smaller growing foliage to create high yield, smaller plants…perfect for small spaces!
For citrus trees look at the Meyer Lemon, Dwarf Tahitian Lime and Finger Lime for growing in pots or large tubs. Then underplant with nasturtiums, marigolds, chives, parsley or your favourite herbs or flowers.
These will help to keep the potting mix covered and work as a companion plant for your citrus trees!
Read more about Companion Plants HERE.
Larger herbs like rosemary and lavender also grow well in pots, especially clay or terracotta, as they like a slightly dryer soil in a warm, sunny location.
Grow oregano, marjoram or thyme around larger herbs to create an aromatic arrangement.
Hanging Baskets are suited to growing smaller plants, and especially trailing plants. Try a small upright plant surrounded with a ground cover.
A few of my favourites together are petunia and viola, chives and thyme, sorrel and parsley or strawberries and alyssum.
The flowers give extra colour and the edibles are hanging around waiting to be picked!
Watch my Youtuve video HERE on growing in a hanging basket.
Others places to grow your favourite plants could be in a vertical garden (perfect for space saving), old bathtubs or wheelbarrows (hunt around at your local op shops or tip shops for second hand), wall pots (available in many shapes and sizes) and in a Vegepod.
I’ve recently setup a Vegepod in my garden and am now growing microgreens, herbs and salad goodies all together!
Find out more about Vegepod here - https://vegepod.com.au/
To gather more ideas for creating your gardens, have a listen to my podcast episode - https://soiltosupper.com/episode-019-creating-your-garden-spaces/
And for a few tips on growing food in any location, read my article HERE.
Now you have a few ideas for where to grow your fresh food or ornamental plants it’s time to start shopping and planting!
TIP – choose plants for your climate location and the current season…they’ll grow best 💯
If you have any gardening questions, please post in our Soil to Supper Facebook Club.
And to gain a deeper understanding of gardening please find our courses and events at Learn Online.
Enjoy a wonderful time growing all your favourite things,
Cath x
