So you think you want to start gardening?

I don't blame you.. I blame Pinterest for your gardening impulses. However there are some things you will want to consider before diving in.

What the hell do you want?

There are plenty of sub-categories within the field of horticulture. You'll have to decide what area to focus your energy. If you want food, start with veggies. Wan't to improve indoor air quality? Get some hearty house plants. 

Lets say you're just interested in the aesthetics, you may focus on growing cute succulents and flowering plants.

There are tons of different plant related stuff for you to experiment with.

Ready for some lists?

Easy Edibles

• Strawberries
• Raddish
• Asparigus
• Blackberries
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini

I especially like perennial edibles due to my laziness. You however might enjoy annuals like tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, ect. There are tons of other bloggers that will tell you the easiest edibles for your climate. 

Easy Indoor

• Snake Plant
• Golden Pothos
• Peace Lilly
• Jade
• Virtually any Cacti/succulent

House plants are tricky because you are basically dealing with plants that don't live in a temperate climate. They don't require a period of frost and what not. For real newbs I would suggest staying away from tropical plants that need higher humidity levels, such as the peace lilly..

Easy Landscaping

• Perennial bulb flowers
• Native Trees/shrubs
• Yews, Holly's, Boxwoods
• Ornamental Grasses

Landscaping plants are some of the most rewarding, especially when your'e pulling up in the driveway on a spring day. BUT!! Landscaping design can be the easiest to mess up. You might plant all your babies and realize your mowing and trimming time goes through the roof. 

Do your research and think twice before planting your new dudes. 

DON'T FORGET TO HAVE YOUR UTILITY LINES MARKED!

Do you have the room?

Do you have enough room to spare for a new hobby?

Is your s.o. going to get pissed when you get worm poo on the counter? Would they be mad if you had your own worm bin?

Will you need to sacrifice part of your lawn for a vegetable garden? Will you still be interested in said garden next year?

Will you get upset when a wet pot destroys the finish on that fancy kitchen table?

Take a moment to scope out any places you're willing to house some new plant babies. For indoor plants you'll want to use south facing windows to get direct sun light. Don't have south facing windows? You'll have to settle on plants that require very little light to survive.

Outdoor plants will normally want full/partly sunny areas that drain well after rain storms. If you don't have these conditions in your yard, you will once again have to settle on plants that favor the conditions you have. 

DO YOU HAVE PETS

Certain plants can be toxic or poisoning to dogs, cats or any pets. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do your freaking research!!!!!

Do you have the cash?

What kind of budget do you have? Are you looking to buy a greenhouse or are you taking cuttings off grandmas aloe plants? (shout out to my grandma's sexy aloe plant)

With any hobby comes the price tag. I suggest starting with a few VERY HEARTY houseplants that enjoy arid climates. If you can keep them alive for more than six months you're ready to step your game up.

Don't be like me and buy, buy, buy. You could find yourself with 10% percent of your original plants, wondering what the hell happened. 

I ended up with a couple hundred dollars worth of peach trees that need maintenance nearly bi-monthly. Unfortunately I was not prepared for the amount of cash and care involved with maintaining a healthy, fungus and insect free specimen.

Do you have time?

Another factor that ties directly to your wallet is your time. How much time do you realistically see yourself spending on gardening? 

For a beginner that has no experience, you'll want to spend less than an hour a week tending the babies. If you truly feel the need to flex your green thumb, do tons of research. This keeps you from getting in over your head and spending all that dough. 

Don't consider time to be an issue? Take a look at this photo of yard waist I took to the dump...

I didn't want to spend my afternoon hauling heaps of foliage, but it felt pretty good once it was gone. 

Decision Making Time

I've given you my amateur 411 on where you should potentially get started. Fortunately you have plenty of fun reading to do. 

The main purpose of this post is to get your creative juices flowing. Flowing with questions I think you should consider before getting in to deep.

Take the points I've highlighted into consideration before making any purchases. Remember to always, always research plants before purchase to ensure you are capable of being a caretaker.

Overall, I would highly recommend starting with an indoor houseplant that requires very little water. Plants that thrive indoors with little care include snake plants, golden pothos or literally any succulent. 

Be patient, enjoy progress.

Ever watch grass grow? Well be prepared because progress can be slooowwwww. Enjoy every leaf, every pedal. This hobby is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes it seems nothing grows, nothing happens. 

If you can't hold your horses try faster growing plants, but appreciate the dedication and care envolved with every specimen. 

Hey, you just read my first blog post ever.

Gardening is a passion of mine that I enjoy talking about. Although I have refrained from discussing technicalities I look forward to posting quality content that dissects the art of gardening.

All photos on this post were taken by myself over the course of a few years. If you appreciate my original content being uploaded to the blockchain please feel free to subscribe, upvote, whatever you do. 

Please feel free to give feedback on what you'd like my next post to be. 

Should I do beginner gardening terminology? I think yasssssss.