Essentials for no-fail gardening

Right plant, right place: It's not enough just to go for plants you like. For a thriving garden, choose those suited to your growing conditions.

• Light levels: Typically, unless surrounded by huge shade trees, your garden will have some areas of full sun, as well as spots shaded by trees or buildings.

• Full sun: Many flowering perennials and most roses do best in full sun—at least six hours daily. With only two to three hours of sunlight, sun-lovers will struggle to survive.

• Shade or part shade: For a bed that receives sun only part of the day, choose plants that thrive in shade or part shade. Besides astilbes and hostas, try cranesbills (hardy perennial geraniums), bleeding hearts, foxgloves, columbines andcoral bells, to name a few.

• Buying plants: Good garden centres group plants according to their sun and shade requirements. Trees and shrubs also have light preferences, so read the plant tags and do some research before choosing.  

Getting your soil ready for planting
Aside from light levels, plants can be picky about soil conditions, so before planting, nourish your soil.

Most plants thrive in soil that's moist but well drained – a seeming contradiction that means soil is moisture retentive, but not too wet. The ideal garden soil has the consistency of crumbly chocolate cake and is easy to dig.  

• The way to improve almost any kind of soil – from sticky clay to porous sandy soil – is the same: add humus (composted manure, compost or leaf mould, or any combination of these materials). In sandy conditions, humus acts like a sponge to hold moisture, while in clay, it breaks up sticky particles to create larger pore spaces that drain more easily and hold the oxygen plant roots need.

• Remove grass or other existing vegetation with a flat spade or kill it with a glyphosate herbicide (if permitted in your region). Don't just till a weedy or grassy area and plant directly into it – grass and perennial weeds can re-grow from small pieces of root or stem left in the ground.

• With the existing vegetation removed, spread about five to seven centimeters of humus over the garden bed and dig it in. Once you've raked the area smooth, you're ready to plant.

Look at your garden regularly
Be sure to stroll through your garden every few days to spot problems before they get out of control and turn into major chores.

• Watering new plants: Keep the soil moist around new plants for about  six to  eight weeks to help them develop good, strong root systems.

• Weeding: Remove weeds promptly; it's easier to pull small weeds than larger, deeply rooted ones. Be sure to pull them before they go to seed. Hint: Go out after a rainy day when soil is soft and moist – the weeds will be easier to remove.

• Use mulch: A five to 7.5 centimetre layer of mulch applied over bare soil between plants keeps down weeds and helps to keep soil moist. Commonly available mulches are straw (don't use hay, which has too many weed seeds), cocoa bean hulls or shredded bark.