Learning How To Create A Wildflower Garden With Free Education
Week 33 - My inspo, how I have been learning, mistakes, plans and more
I got away from myself this week because I only had five days with Hubby before he returned to work today, so I forgot to post my weekly article. But also, I have been filming and editing lots for my next YouTube Episode 2, which should be coming out this week!!! This is why I am publishing my week-by-week article today instead of yesterday.
Being in the garden a lot this week has made me realise how much I want to create a wildflower garden somewhere on my property or add flowers to my veggie patch.
All the inspiration I have received on my Instagram feed is from properties with lots of space and land to create these magical wildflower gardens. However, I would love to create something with the small space I have in our urban property.
DREAM INSPO
CURRENT STATUS
So far, Bunnings in Australia doesn’t sell any flowers I want to plant as established plants, so I will have to purchase them as bulbs or seedlings.
I have not been very good at keeping every flower I have bought alive, probably because I purchase and plant them in the middle of summer when the heat kills them immediately.
I have managed to plant some sunflowers from seeds, but they said they would grow to a giant size, and they didn’t, so I feel I am not doing something right. I think it’s the soil; as I know, based on some research I have been doing, the soil has a lot to do with the growth of any plant or flower in your garden.
LEARNING HOW TO GARDEN - FREE EDUCATION
Trial and Error Method
With any creative endeavour, I have learned that to make it a reality, you must research and LEARN a lot. Sometimes, you must dive straight into it, make as many mistakes as possible, and learn from those life experiences to grow and learn more versus NOT trying at all.
Trying new things at home has become a regular thing at different times. I notice that I am making more conscious effort when trying to do these “new” things. More planning is involved, and when something doesn’t go my way. I don’t give up as easily and think it doesn’t work; I figure it out.
Ask Staff in the Gardening Centre
Asking for help at the garden centre about which flowers work best to keep pests away from my veggie plants is not exactly great help, but it is still a little bit. The Bunnings Staff member pointed me in the right direction but was very vague and uninterested in giving me much information.
I have found that asking neighbours who garden is very helpful, so I plan on asking more people in my neighbourhood questions as they have the same interest in me.
I came across this beautiful sunflower patch on the verge in my local neighbourhood and it made me soooooo friggin happy to see! Community gardening is just the best!
Library
I have been trying to work out my garden mistakes by borrowing books on gardening, baking bread, and pottery from the library.
I read about all the things that interest me at night to figure out where I went wrong and to develop my skills even more.
YouTube
I love learning on YouTube for any new creative endeavour. However, it is also another social media platform where you can easily get sucked into watching more than you meant to. Books are a better way to learn sometimes, so I don’t get distracted.
Reading might take longer to learn as I am not a fast reader and usually fall asleep when I read, but I am happy to live my life at a slower pace now. Lunchtime reading is more productive for me.
Letting go of the hustle and keeping busy phase of my life is officially gone. If you want more tips on slow livin read this article on I’m over being “busy and prefer slow livin.
I have an idea to turn my front verge lawn into a long wildflower garden that requires no weeding, just watering, but I'm not sure I will be able to pull it off this year. I have currently just sprinkled pumpkin seeds on the lawn with the hope that all this rain we have been having will help plant time. I'm trying the NO DIG gardening concept to see if it will work.
I have lots of ideas about what I want to turn my front verge garden into, but I never really get around to making this space pretty, partly because it’s not really my property. But it is something that I do need to maintain, so I might as well make it look beautiful. I know there is no watering system to help keep the garden alive in the summer, and water is vital in WA summer heat.
I can’t wait to photograph my dreamy flower garden in a few months, and I hope my seedlings keep growing. But I also managed to find some more established plants or bulbs to put around the garden.
Like always, thanks for reading, and I hope this helps or inspires you to start getting your hands dirty in the garden if you have been wanting to… NEVER GIVE UP when it comes to doing something for the right reasons!
Lots of love and light always
Kim