One of the first things you’ll want to do is establish how the sun moves across your outdoor space.

It’s useful to understand how the sun moves across our outdoor spaces – where it settles most and where it brushes right over – because sun exposure dictates what we can grow and how.

Different plants enjoy different levels of sun exposure. Some absolutely adore the shade (one of my favourite shade-loving plants is Astilbe, which is colourful, ostentatious and bristling with texture), whereas some, like dahlias or sunflowers, love to be in the sun all day long.

Fruit and vegetables are the same. Tomatoes need direct sunlight to grow and ripen into the juicy little treats that they are, whereas beetroot, radish and lettuce thrive in shaded areas.

These are the important terms that you’ll come across:

FULL SUN:

Full sun means at least 6 hours of direct sunlight.

PARTIAL SUN/SHADE:

Partial sun/shade means 3-6 hours of direct sunlight.

FULL SHADE:

Full shade means less than 3 hours of direct sunlight, or no direct sunlight at all. It doesn’t mean complete darkness.

*NOTE: these terms refer to spring/summer when we (supposedly) enjoy the most sun.*

Most of us will experience some degree of sun movement with our outdoor spaces.

In my garden, the sun starts its day around the patio, before gradually moving down the left side and settling at the end. This means that the middle-left to end of my garden enjoy FULL SUN, my patio area enjoys PARTIAL SUN/SHADE and the right side of my garden is in FULL SHADE.

It might be that you only have access to a petite balcony which is never exposed to direct sunlight, or perhaps you’re gardening in a much larger expanse of space which sits in the sun all day long. If you do find yourself sitting in one end of the extremes, don’t panic! All this means is that what you plant and grow will be a little more heavily influenced.

Some plants are more flexible and will grow outside of their ideal growing conditons. For example, I have successfully grown dahlias (which like full sun) in areas of partial shade and they will still produce blooms, just slower and with less frequency.

Other plants are very stubborn and want what they want. If you plant them outside of their ideal growing conditions, they’ll either remain stunted and not grow at all or wither and die.

It’s all trial and error!

Soil pH Balance

I’ve touched on soil pH balance briefly above, but this is something else, along with the type of your soil, which will affect what you can grow and how.

Some plants like azaeleas, rhododendrons and camellias need to be grown in acidic soil. This is because they have evolved from certain environments which means that they cannot absorb vital nutrients when grown in soil which is alkaline.

Similarly, some plants won’t thrive in acidic soil.

Can you change the pH balance of your soil?

In short, you can certainly try, but it probably isn’t worth it.

The pH balance of your soil is dictated by the earth it sits upon and the wider environment it sits within. It can be both costly and time-consuming trying to alter the pH balance and there is no guarantee that it will work, so you’re better off trying to work with it.

Alternatively, grow in containers! You’ll be able to control and influence the pH balance of compost/soil within containers much more easily.

How can you test your soil?

You can pick up cheap soil testers like the one above for relatively cheap. Simply stick them in the ground to test the pH balance and moisture level. These devices aren’t particularly precise but they’ll give you a rough estimate of what you’re looking for.

For a more accurate reading, you can buy pH liquid soil testers, a bit like the litmus test you’d do in science lessons at school.

I am a huge proponent of container gardening because, so far, it’s all I’ve ever known. My first garden was entirely concrete and quite petite so I had to grow everything in pots or small, shallow raised beds.

Fast forward a few years later and my garden now isn’t hugely different. I do have access to some ground but this is pretty limited – I’ve only dug in one thin border. Everything else I grow in raised beds or pots.

The pros of growing in pots

I love growing in containers for a few reasons.

Firstly, controlling the growing medium (what the plant grows in) is so much easier. You can buy compost tailored to whatever it is you’re looking to grow and then top it up with complimentary fertilisers, plus you have a greater grip on the pH balance.

Secondly, at least with pots, they can be moved around. I’ll have a shuffle around fairly regularly in my garden, bringing plants that are vigorously flowering to the forefront view, while others that have perhaps finished their life cycle or aren’t looking too perky can be hidden elsewhere. Think of garden pots as the fun accessories of your garden design (or the heart of it, in my case).

The cons of growing in pots

Space is obviously a factor. Some plants need a lot of space to grow and so, at first glance, might not seem suitable for pots. However – and this is a big however – where there is a will, there is a way. Whatever you can think of, I promise that somebody somewhere has found a way to grow it from a container or pot, whether that’s growing vertically instead of horizontally or working with dwarf varieties of larger plants. So never say never, basically.

Plants grown in containers tend to lose moisture a lot more quickly, too, especially plants grown in terracotta. Terracotta is porous and a heat conductor, so it heats up and soaks up the moisture at the same time. It’s still very much possible to grow plants this way, it just means you have to be more vigilant with watering.

What should I put in my pots?

To keep things simple, you can’t go wrong with multi-purpose compost. It’s like the vanilla ice-cream of the compost world – nearly everything likes it, but there is probably something a little better. The better option might be John Innes compost.

Mutli-purpose compost is soil-less. This confused me so much at first – isn’t it soil? But no, it isn’t. Multi-purpose compost consists of biodegraded organic material like coir (which comes from coconuts) or peat (which is extracted from vital and endangered natural environments in the UK – avoid peat!).

John Innes compost mixes are soil-based (John Innes refers not to the brand but the type of compost – this is another thing that confused me for a really long time). Historically these have included peat and some still do today, so always seek out peat-free mixes which have less impact on the environment. Because they are soil-based, John Innes mixes are heavier and more stable in terms of water retention and nutrient levels.

Typically it’s advised that for shorter-term planting – annuals and vegetables – multi-purpose compost is the way to go. For longer-term planting – perennials, trees etc. – then John Innes might be better.

To be completely honest with you, I’m never this fussy. I keep a bin full of multi-purpose compost with added John Innes (the best of both worlds) in my shed to dip into whenever I need it.

When potting up, I’ll put some large stones at the bottom to aid with dranage (if I can find some!), fill the pots with multi-purpose and then feed them to give them a little nutrient boost whenever they might need it.

You can also buy container-specific compost which has been fortified with additional nutrients.

What should I put in my raised beds?

I treat raised beds a little differently than pots because the volume of growing medium required is considerably larger.

You can fill raised beds with multi-purpose compost but it might get quite expensive, plus, over time, the raised bed will need a lot more intervention to keep the compost nutritious and moist.

Instead, it’s worth mixing in some top soil which you’ll likely find being sold next to compost in shops.

Top soil is soil-based (what gave it away?), so it’s nutritionally dense and holds on to moisture better than multi-purpose compost alone.

You might also want to line your raised beds first with cardboard, gravel or plastic – or all three! This is done to suppress weed growth, bolster insulation and improve drainage.

So: cardboard first, then gravel/stones or some sort, then plastic around the edges – most people use compost bags turned inside out. Then add a mixture of top soil and multi-purpose compost, perhaps with some granular fertiliser. 

There are alternative ways to fill your raised bed and you could simplify the above process even further, but that should be enough to get you started.

Do I need to replace the compost in my pots and raised beds?

You don’t necessarily need to replace the compost (although I sometimes do with my pots if I feel they need a blank slate), but you definitely need to refresh it. This is called top-dressing.

Top-dressing is the simple practise of removing the top layer of compost to replace it with compost that is fresh, and perhaps a little fertiliser too. It gives your containers the boost of nutrients they need and helps keep your potted plants happy.

Onto more jargon.

A plant’s hardiness refers to its ability to withstand adverse weather conditions, typically meaning the more extreme fluctuations we experience in winter, especially frost.

The RHS has devised a hardiness scale comprising of 9 different levels, but that’s a little extra for a beginner’s guide. Instead we’re going to cover the main three categories that you’ll find on seed packets and plant labels.

What do you need to know about hardiness?

Some plants will endure winter with no intervention whatsoever and reemerge in spring, splintering new, green growth.

Others will make it through winter with a little help – they might need mulching or protecting with something like a fleece to keep the worst of the conditions out.

And then there are plants which will shrivel up under winter’s first breath and that’s it: dead.

It’s useful to know the hardiness of a plant because it helps to inform where (and if) you plant certain things. The hardier the plant, the less attention it will require from you to survive, so if you’re wanting to create a low-maintenance garden, then you’ll want to choose hardier plants.

To make things slightly more confusing, hardiness can be affected by environment. If planted up against a wall, under a tree or in another area of relative cover, a plant’s hardiness may increase as it’s more protected from the elements. If a plant is out in the open, you might find that it’s a little more tender.

So something to keep in mind: the more exposed a plant is, the less hardy it may be.

HARDY:

Hardy plants will survive an average-cold winter without any intervention. In terms of temperatures, the lowest they can withstand is between -5 and -10 degrees, although if the plant is in a pot, they are much more vulnerable. Hardy plants might die back over winter but they will reemerge the next year with renewed growth. Evergreen shrubs will stay green (or whatever colour they might be) all year without dying back (unless the conditions are particularly harsh).

HALF-HARDY:

Less tolerant of adverse conditions than hardy plants, half-hardy plants typically require some sort of protection to survive winter. This may be a fleece or a heavy mulch.

(‘Mulching’ refers to the practise of layering a medium on the surface of the soil to overwinter what lies beneath. This could be straw, compost or bark. Instead of the soil freezing and thawing every time the sun comes out, the mulch moderates the temperature and locks the plants in a dormant state which is much less stressful for them. When the risk of frost has passed, you can remove the mulch and the plants will kickstart once the temperature of the soil has heated up.)

TENDER:

Tender plants are silly, soft sausages. They can withstand the cold but as soon as temperatures reach the 1 degree or less mark, they will perish. In order to overwinter tender plants, you’ll need a greenhouse, shed or to bring the plants indoors. You might be able to mulch them if the conditions aren’t too extreme (inner cities, for example, tend not to experience as harsh a frost as those in remote countryside settings), but this might be risky.