- Choose the right plants for your soil. Check your soil type, is it heavy and clay or light and sandy, look over the fence and see what thrives in your neighbour's patch.
- Give plants enough space. Do not be tempted by displays at the garden centre and buy too many plants for the size of your bed. If you place plants too close, not all survive. They will need more watering and fertiliser and are more susceptible to disease. Read the label.
- Be gentle with new plants. Removing new plants from pots should be done with care, not pulling stems and damaging roots.
- Plan ahead with your design. Think about the big picture of your garden. Check sun and shade at different times of day. Before planting, position plants and bulbs on the soil. Move them around until you are happy with the arrangement.
- Give shrubs breathing space. Resist temptation to plant your shrubs close to a fence or wall. They grow outwards in all directions so plant accordingly.
- Soak the roots. Thoroughly soak the roots of a new plant before you put it in the soil. Make sure the hole is bigger than the root ball before you attempt to plan. A plant's roots need to be able to spread to get the best chance of tapping moisture and absorbing nutrients.
- Label, label, label. It can be easy to forget what and where you have planted. Take an extra minute to write a plant label or use the one already given. Pop it in the ground next to the seeds, bulbs or plants you have planted.
- Watering plants. Plants survive in the soil without daily artificial irrigation, unless there are drought conditions. The exceptions are container plants which because there are a lot of plants in a finite amount of soil will need regular watering. I do not mean now and again but every day and sometimes several times. They really are high maintenance.
- Be brutal with weeds. It is important to learn that weeds are the enemy. Weed regularly and make sure if there are seeds clinging to the weeds, do not put on the compost heap. You will recycle the weeds when you spread the compost.
- Have fun. Allow yourself to experiment. Surf the net. Read a gardening magazine.