The survey, conducted by Stihl, amongst 2000 UK gardeners revealed that just 13% said they were knowledgeable (expert) gardeners, whilst 48% felt they had only have basic (or no) gardening awareness. Positively, 34% said that they had “grand plans” for their garden, despite feeling too inexperienced to get the job done.
Over two-thirds of the respondents (64%) said that they would like to be more knowledgeable gardening, with approximately 30% revealing their limited gardening knowledge is a barrier to making the most of their outdoor space.
Also revealed in the survey, the top gardening mistakes related to lack of adequate weeding, watering (too much and too little) as well as planting too closely.
Top 20 Gardening Mistakes
- Leaving weeds too long
- Underwatering
- Overwatering
- Spacing plants too closely
- Ignoring fallen leaves on the lawn
- Planting in areas with insufficient sunlight
- Pruning incorrectly or at the wrong time
- Forgetting to water hanging baskets
- Neglecting to stake tall plants
- Forgetting to clean and maintain gardening tools
- Planting at the wrong time of year
- Ignoring signs of plant diseases
- Not edging lawn correctly
- Mowing too short
- Neglecting soil pH balance
- Trimming a hedge badly
- Under-fertilizing
- Planting in areas with too much sunlight
- Using the wrong type of soil
- Planting too close to buildings
Head gardener, writer and broadcaster Jane Moore, said : “We all make mistakes from time to time, even seasoned gardeners – that’s how we learn. The new research has revealed that the most common gardening mistakes include leaving weeds for too long, under and over watering and ignoring fallen leaves.”
Paul Hicks, Marketing and Product Manager at STIHL, said: “It’s great to see people want to improve their gardening skills and knowledge. As well as lacking confidence in knowing what to do, people also lack the tools they need to effectively get a job done.”
