Our Advice for New Gardeners: Start Smart

Boujee Gardeners? Guilty. 🌱

Listen…we are absolutely not the “throw some seeds in the dirt and hope for the best” kind of gardeners.

No ma’am.

If we’re going to put in this much time, effort, sweat, and emotional attachment into our plants…we want to set ourselves up for success from the very beginning.

So yes…

You could say we’re a little…

Boujee about our gardening. 😅

And honestly?

I have zero regrets.

Because healthy plants are way prettier than dead ones.

1. Invest in Beds Built to Last

Please don’t buy something you’ll replace in a year.

We highly recommend investing in quality raised beds from the beginning—something durable that can handle weather, water, Texas heat, and your inevitable garden expansion 😅

Because trust us…if you fall in love with gardening…

You will expand. Shameless plug for our favorite beds…Birdie’s Beds:

https://shop.epicgardening.com/BYRDIESBEDS

Just a casual night for the WPC in the garden (Worm Poop Club)!

2. Find FULL Sun ☀️

And I mean FULL sun.

Not…"Well it gets a little morning light..."

Nope. Most vegetables want 6–8+ hours of direct sunlight, and if you’re putting in this much effort…

Give your plants what they actually need. Walk your property. Watch where the sun hits. Plan before you place.

It matters more than you think.

3. Weed Barrier… and Go Bigger Than You Think 🌿

Learn from our mistake…we did install weed barrier…

…but we didn’t bring it far enough outside the beds.

Big mistake. Because guess where weeds love to grow from?

Right around the edges… where you now have to bend over and pull them while questioning your life choices 😅

So our advice?

Go wider than you think you need.

Future-you will thank you.

We had to spray (of course with lots of research to have an organic grass/weed killer) a few years in around the bed to keep the grass and weeds from coming up! Lesson learned! Passing along the knowledge now!

4. Soil Is Everything 🪴

Repeat after me…Cheap soil = expensive mistakes.

We (as in my Mother the soil expert) went to one of our favorite local spots, and ordered a custom mix: She was VERY SPECIFIC

50% Mushroom Compost
50% Premium Garden Mix

And because by this point we had… a few beds 😅…we happily hired someone to deliver it and fill everything for us.

Best decision ever. Because trust me (not us because we all know Byrd won’t be doing this much manual labor)…moving soil by hand sounds fun…until it’s not.

5. Irrigation = Game Changer 💧

This may be one of the best decisions we made, because let’s be honest…life gets busy and nobody wants to stand outside with a hose for hours on end!!!

Salon life. Mom life. Animal life. Garden life.

And if your garden depends on you remembering to hand-water every single day…you’re eventually going to miss a day.

Or three.

We use Garden In Minutes (https://gardeninminutes.com/?campaignid=845525517&adgroupid=66905922710&creative=636161490932&matchtype=e&network=g&device=c&keyword=gardening+in+minutes&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=845525517&gbraid=0AAAAADK_Q8PzrY_8-MtJbp2J2xauhYjcw&gclid=CjwKCAjw-8vPBhBbEiwAoA39WqqAMc02tK_oU-J9z5B2b95gfhtlQAUM9gYre6Nl20VC38CjD-l1PxoCXGAQAvD_BwE), and it has made life so much easier.

Their grid system waters evenly, takes the guesswork out, and allows us to monitor everything without dragging hoses around the ranch.

Even better……ours is connected to our well system, so I can control watering remotely.

Now—I know that setup may not be realistic for everyone…

But even connecting your irrigation to a timer or sprinkler system can completely change your gardening success.

Because consistency…that’s where the magic happens.