Every winter, we look back at what worked in the garden and what didn’t. If you’re new here, we’re Eric and Christopher, and we garden in Zone 6a in Upstate New York. After years of planting, moving, editing, and learning, we’ve got a pretty clear list of things we wish we’d done differently from the beginning.

If you’re starting a garden now (or you’re a few seasons in and already thinking, “Wait… did I do this wrong?”), these seven lessons will save you time, money, and a lot of frustration.

1) Keeping plants we didn’t love

When we first moved into our home in 2018, it was a brand-new build with a blank-slate yard and sandy soil. We were so excited to fill the space that we bought whatever we could find, especially clearance plants.

Here’s the thing: buying on sale is not a design strategy. A garden built around random bargains can turn into a mismatched collection of “just okay” plants that don’t work together.

What we’d do instead

• Buy fewer plants at first and choose them intentionally
• Leave space open until you find something you truly want there
• Be willing to remove or rehome plants that don’t fit your vision, even if they were a “great deal”

Key takeaway: Don’t let a plant’s price decide your garden’s direction. Your garden should serve the look and feel you want.

2) Using landscape fabric

We were fully convinced landscape fabric would suppress weeds. It did not. What it did do was make gardening harder.

Weeds often grow on top of landscape fabric in the mulch layer. Meanwhile, the fabric can interfere with improving your soil over time, since compost, organic matter, and granular fertilizers don’t naturally integrate as well.

What we’d do instead

• Skip landscape fabric in planting beds
• Use a thick mulch or compost layer to reduce weeds
• Hand-weed early and often while beds are establishing

Key takeaway: Landscape fabric often creates more work, not less, especially long-term.

3) Not installing drip irrigation immediately

Even after we had years of gardening experience, we made this mistake. When we installed our terrace and patio beds (and planted a lot of new plants in late June), we assumed the summer would be rainy.

It wasn’t. We spent countless hours hand-watering, and we lost plants and growth.

What we’d do instead

• Install drip irrigation before you mulch
• Put it in while soil is still open and beds are easy to work in
• Use consistent irrigation to help new plantings establish faster

Key takeaway: If you plan to install drip eventually, do it immediately. It’s much harder later.

4) Buying cheap hoses and low-quality tools

We learned this lesson more times than we’d like to admit. Cheap hoses kink, leak, snap at the connectors, and make watering way more frustrating than it needs to be.

Same goes for tools. Poor-quality tools bend, break, and slow you down.

What we’d do instead

• Invest in a quality hose (or better yet, a hose reel system - like our favorite 100ft Retractable Hose Reel from HoseLink)
• Consider adding an additional hose bib if your yard layout makes watering difficult
• Buy mid-level tools that last (you don’t have to buy the most expensive, just avoid the cheapest)

Key takeaway: Your garden experience improves dramatically when the boring “utility” items actually work.

5) Buying bagged mulch instead of bulk delivery

We used to drive back and forth buying bag after bag of mulch. It was time-consuming, expensive, messy, and the coverage per bag was tiny.

Then we discovered bulk delivery and realized you can also get compost delivered the same way.

What we’d do instead

• Call a local landscape supply or garden center for bulk mulch delivery
• Consider bulk compost delivery, especially if your soil is sandy or poor
• If you’re transitioning, you can often put compost right over existing mulch

Key takeaway: Bulk mulch (and compost) saves money, saves time, and can seriously improve soil quality faster.

6) Buying pricey self-watering containers that weren’t maintainable

We invested in self-watering containers and expected them to simplify watering. In our case, they caused more problems.

Because our containers were in a hot, south-facing location on blacktop, the water reservoir heated up. Over time, roots clogged the system, and the insert couldn’t be removed to clean or repair.

We ended up cutting the inserts out and using them as regular planters.

What we’d do instead

• If you want self-watering containers, choose models that can be taken apart and cleaned
• Consider insert systems that are maintainable over time
• Be mindful of placement. Full sun + heat-reflecting surfaces can create harsh conditions

Key takeaway: Self-watering can work, but only if the system is serviceable and suited to your site.

7) Not planning for a shed or greenhouse

This one is emotional because we didn’t realize how much we’d fall in love with gardening. We assumed our garage space would be enough for storage.

But the reality is: you go back and forth to tools and supplies constantly. If your storage is far from where you garden, it becomes annoying fast.

Now, our garden is established, and adding a shed or greenhouse would require major changes.

What we’d do instead

• Plan for workflow early
• Think about where storage should go for easy access
• Reserve space for a shed or greenhouse before beds are mature

Key takeaway: Even if you’re not sure you’ll “need” a shed or greenhouse, planning for one gives you options later.

Final Thoughts

None of these choices ruined our garden, but they shaped it. Gardening is built through learning, editing, and sometimes doing things the hard way.

If you’re starting a garden right now, you don’t need to get everything perfect. But if you can avoid a few of these common mistakes, you’ll save yourself time, money, and frustration, and you’ll enjoy the process a lot more.

Spring is coming, and we can’t wait to get back outside with you.