Pro Tips for a Beautiful Garden w/ Plaids and Poppies

Today I’m thrilled to be teaming up with Tracy from Plaids and Poppies! She and I are sharing some great tips for the new and seasoned gardener alike.

Believe it or not, spring is right around the corner! And that also means garden planning is in full swing!

Tracy is one of the best gardening experts on social media right now. She and I are sharing some ideas about how to garden successfully, with joy, and intention! So let’s dig in and learn about creating a beautiful garden.

Welcome Tracy from Plaids and Poppies!

Tracy from Plaids and Poppies is a home and garden blogger. She lives in West Michigan. It’s her passion to make everything around her beautiful! Readers find beauty in her home, family cabin, expansive flower gardens, green house, and in the memories she makes with her grandchildren. Tracy is one of the best and I’m thrilled to partner with her in today.

Like me, she has inches of snow on the ground currently but I know she’s dreaming about the vibrant beauty of her summer gardens. She is a natural born designer in her home, garden, and on the beautiful landscape of Michigan.

Her home and garden designs are on display in several magazines. She’s also a featured designer in this year’s Proven Winners 2021 Idea Book! I have personally grown my gardening skills by watching, reading, and learning from her expertise.

So it’s an honor to share some of her knowledge with you today. I hope, if you’re just meeting Tracy, that you’ll get to know her vibrant Instagram and Blog as well. You’ll love learning from her and following her home and gardening journey.

Write it Down!

Gardening is a process, to say the least, and it’s a hobby that does take a little bit of study.

Tracy suggests:

Start a garden journal! There’s always so much information to keep track of. You’re likely to forget from year to year, even as a long time gardener. I write down what I’ve planted, and where, when they bloomed, and if I had trouble with insects, fungus, deer, etc. That way you can be on top of it for next year!

Also don’t forget about blooming times! I keep track of areas in the garden where there’s a period of time when nothing is in bloom. I will look for plants around my yard or other homes in the area that have plants blooming and make notes. This way I’ll know what I can divide, relocate, or look for them when I visit the garden center.

Writing down all of these things goes a long way to streamlining the gardening process year after year.

Know the Area

Knowing your area is critical knowledge for every gardener. But it’s especially important for those of us who live at altitude or in an extreme climate. Spending the late winter weeks learning about and studying your hardiness zone will save you much needed time. It’ll even save you money for the gardening season ahead.

Tracy advices:

It’s important to know your plant hardiness growing zone. It’s easy enough to google and will save you from buying plants that can’t live through a winter in your zone.

As you learn about your zone pay attention to how much sun your space gets. Also try and determine what type of soil you have. For instance, a wet, shady spot…as opposed to a sunny sandy spot, will inform the type of plants you buy and the research you do.

Trial and Error in the Garden

If you’ve been following my gardening journey to any extent you know I’m still very much learning. I have had several successes and failures. My cabin garden in the woods with 60+ year old pine trees presents challenges for me as a novice gardener. However, I’ve learned over the past handful of years to extend a lot of grace to myself.

I allocate part of my gardening budget to trying something new each season. I always learn and enjoy the process as well. Going into the gardening season with the idea in mind that some of my money is dedicated to trial and error allows me to experiment. This way I won’t get frustrated if I have a failure or two. It’s just all part of the process!

Hand in hand, I also invest in methods that I know work beautifully. Like container gardening. As I continue to learn about my zone I know container gardening to be tried and true. It will be successful and is a great place to start for the new gardener.

Tracy has a wealth of informative articles on her website too! So if you are just starting your gardening journey, be sure to bookmark her site as a place where you learn.

Choose Varying Plants

Being open to trial and error will create some beautiful garden victories! In the process you will find new plant varieties of different, sizes, colors, and grow times.

Tracy encourages:

Varying plant heights, textures, and foliage creates beautiful variety in the garden! Ideas include tall grasses with beautiful plumes, and shrubs that have a different color foliage or texture. Even ground cover that accents the plants above and behind it.

Mixing shrubs, grasses, perennials, and annuals gives an unlimited amount of options to the garden. It also creates visual year-round interest.

The Layered Garden

Beautiful gardens occur after seasons of work. Layers upon layers of trial, error, mended soil, annuals and perennials all work together. They create bounty and beautiful growing things with a story to tell.

The garden is intended, in many ways, to be a years long project that ebbs and flows with the seasons and weather. It carries with it memories of years passed that can be shared with others. A garden is truly the visual practice of patience.

Tracy at Plaids and Poppies reminds us, creating beautiful things is always worth it and a little knowledge goes a long way!

With hope for you and your intentional home,