Top 5 Gardening Mistakes
Take the guesswork out of Lowcountry gardening and save yourself time and money by avoiding these five common mistakes!
Rita’s Roots Backyard Harvest started in 2011 with the dream of helping Lowcountry gardeners —from beginners to masters— learn how to feed their families from their own backyards (or front!). Over the years, we’ve picked up a whole lot of tips and tricks and it’s our mission to share what we know to help you have success in your garden. But we’ve also seen what not to do in the garden— today, we’re running down the list of Top Five Gardening Mistakes we see in the Lowcountry. Keep reading to learn more!
Mistake #1: Not Visiting Your Garden Enough
We hate to break it to you, but gardening isn’t a fix it and forget it activity. In fact, we recommend that you visit your garden DAILY.
Why daily visits to your Lowcountry garden? As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” It’s important to attend to the little things so that they don’t become big things. Particularly in the Lowcountry, pests and disease can destroy a garden in just a few days. Yes, a daily gardening habit does take time but it can also be incredibly nourishing for your physical and mental health. Just 15-20 minutes a day in your garden can set you up for a successful harvest AND be an act of self-care.
Mistake #2: Being a Garden Perfectionist
This is one we see a lot— if you aim for perfection, you may get discouraged and quit. Remember: a big part of gardening is experimenting.
That might mean moving plants around until you find the spot where they're happy and you're happy with the way they look. That might mean trying a new variety and giving yourself grace if it doesn’t do as well as you had hoped.
Yes, there’s science to gardening —sun exposure, watering, soil amending, etc.— but it’s also an art and should be enjoyed. In our hustle and bustle life, where so much of our day-to-day is rigidly scheduled and there’s pressure to achieve all the time in everything we do, gardening offers us a welcome return to the slower (and more forgiving!) pace of Mother Nature.
Mistake #3: Choosing the Wrong Plants
South Carolina is a wonderful place to garden and we’re especially fortunate in the Charleston area to have such long growing seasons and abundant varieties of plants that thrive in our growing zone. But it can also make it hard to choose what to plant!
Feeling overwhelmed and worried you might choose the wrong plants? We encourage new gardeners to start SIMPLE: Pick only 4 to 6 different vegetables for each planting session. Here are helpful questions to ask yourself when deciding what to plant each season:
Consider what your family eats: sure, beets are pretty to grow, but will your family eat them?
Decide between seed or transplants: transplants will be easier for new gardeners.
Always include flowers in your garden: they attract pollinators and beneficial insects plus, they beautify your garden and provide beneficial companion planting.
P.S. One of our top recommendations to new gardeners (or new to the Lowcountry) is to carefully choose your plants based on their ability to thrive in the Lowcountry’s climate and resist our pests.
Mistake #4: Buying Plants That Aren’t Seasonally Appropriate for the Lowcountry
We love Lowcountry gardening but you need to pay close attention to what you’re putting in the ground and when— if you plant something that’s not seasonally appropriate, you won’t end up with a good harvest! If you’re shopping seed catalogues, be sure to look for plants that have the following descriptions:
Disease resistant
Heat tolerant
Bolt resistant
Productive in all climates
Our planting calendar is quite different from other parts of the country or even the Upstate of South Carolina! This makes it all the more important to double-check to ensure you’re putting seasonally appropriate plants in the ground.
PRO-TIP: one of the advantages of purchasing your plants and supplies from Rita’s Roots is we’ve done all of the research for you! We’ve been growing in the Lowcountry for more than 10 years and have done experimenting to determine what works best. At our in-person and online sales, we only sell exactly what should be going in the ground at that point in time, so there’s zero guesswork!
Mistake #5: Not Amending the Soil
Want to know a "dirty" little secret? Healthy, fertile soil is the key to abundant harvests! But here’s the thing: native topsoil in the Charleston area is VERY sandy. That makes it great for beaches but not so much for backyard gardeners.
To really thrive, gardens in the Lowcountry need fresh compost and fertilizer added every season!
PRO-TIP: we sell our favorite soil (the SuperSod Cube, which is what we use in our own gardens!) year-round in our online shop. You can order it anytime for delivery straight to your door! Bonus: you get a discount when you order through us :)
