Have you wondered if you have the attributes that make for a great gardener?
Being a successful gardener implies way more attributes than just having “green thumbs”.
After all, no one is born with an affinity for growing plants; there are just some people who are more gifted or naturally inclined toward understanding how to grow plants, but it is a skill like all others.
All aspiring gardeners should be thinking about the other attributes that it would take for them to be able to have the gardens or plants of their dreams.
In the end, you will not have all that you desire overnight, like with many other things, and you need to think about what type of qualities and mentality you would need in order to make this hobby work.
We have talked with new gardeners about their struggles and then contacted seasoned ones about how they can improve and what advice they would have about them.
With their answers, we have managed to put together some of the most important gardening attributes that all gardeners should have, no matter if you are at the start of your garden journey or you have been tending to flowers your whole life!
Keep on reading to discover them!
What are the attributes you believe are the keys to a successful gardener? Share your answers in the comments!
Perseverance
Like with every hobby, it is all about trial and error.
Most seasoned and successful gardeners will be able to tell you all about the times when they have tried and failed numerous times before they got the hang of a certain crop, tree, or plant care.
No one will ever be able to get every gardening project right on the first try, and all the successful gardeners you see around you will have ended up with a couple of failures on their hands along the way.
This is why one of the most important attributes of gardeners is perseverance. For some, this is the most crucial characteristic that you either need to have or cultivate along the way to see the success you want to see.
No matter what perseverance means to you, the simple point is that you should not give up when things get hard or you end up not succeeding on the first try.
Gardening takes time, and if you do not end up managing to achieve what you wanted the first time, you need to try again.
Chances are that your first few projects are not going to go well, but with a bit of perseverance, you will be able to get them done!
Kindness
This one may seem a little bit out there, and it seems like it has nothing to do with a successful gardener. Yet, when you look at it, it is the root of a lot of other traits that will help you be the best gardener you could ever be.
Kindness is the root cause of a lot of qualities needed as a gardener. Being kind generally means that you are warm and nurturing, which in turn can give you all you need to care for saplings and young plants.
While some people do not view flora as important, it is still important to make sure you can use these attributes that make you a good person in everyday life and apply them to the nurturing hobby that is gardening.
Kindness is one of those traits that both inform how we interact with other humans and how we form a rapport with our surroundings, including any animals, plants, or things that are in our care.
Not to mention, you also need to use kindness towards yourself. Perseverance and kindness intersect since if you fail, you should not beat yourself down but rather be kind to yourself and give room for error and growth!
Positivity
This is the core attribute when it comes to the nitty-gritty of things. In the end, who is going to measure your success or failure and call you a successful or not gardener other than yourself?
We have already touched on this with the positivity and perseverance intersection, but you also need to keep a positive mindset related to everything.
If you are positive, then you are going to be able to be a gardener who can see the good in all they do, even if the outlook or end result has not been what you have wanted.
Successful gardeners end up seeing clearly where they have done a good job and when things have started to go sour. Some people may call this being analytical, but you need to reframe this trait towards positivity.
This is because you need to see where you have been doing things well, where you have improved, and where you are still growing. As a garner, only you will be able to say if you are successful or not, so do not let any wrong steps put you down.
Being positive will lead them to realize where they have been successful at gardening, and this will create an understanding and learning environment that leads you down a good path that will ensure you are both learning and developing your skills.
Open-mindedness
Great gardeners do not get stuck in the mud! Metaphorically speaking, since you can never know what can happen when you have your hands in the dirt!
Open-mindedness is extremely important since this will lead to being adaptable, which is crucial when it comes to growing flora.
When you are planning, things and situations can sometimes change very quickly, and by being open-minded, you will be able to use positivity and perseverance to turn things around in your favor or change things as you go along.
While there are certain aspects of gardening that are set in stone, there are others that you need to be flexible with and not be clingy to old ideas or practices.
Times have evolved, and if others have taken the time to innovate and improve, there is nothing wrong with you doing the same thing.
In the end, gardening is a hobby and a skill that is an amalgamation of traditional and modern practices, and finding the best blend of the two that works for you is going to be the best path toward improvement and success.
So keep an open mind and make sure you bring your best foot to the table!
Be invested
Gardening is one of those hobbies and skills that you cannot put off for another day.
It is very hands-on, and you need to make sure that you can be invested along the way. It may not seem like a personal trait that will be needed, but you need to make sure this is not something you are doing on a whim.
The gardeners who manage to reach their own measure of success end up being the ones who are invested in their craft and manage to uphold their dedication and passion for it.
While it may sound like perseverance, being invested is more than not giving up when things get hard.
Gardeners need to invest time and attention in their craft so that their results will be of value and yield what they desire.
The more you dedicate yourself to it, the more happy you will be with the results. So make sure you nurture these attributes yourself!
If you’re out there planning to make your very own vegetable garden, then you need a good guide for what you plan to do. When we were just starting out, we got a lot of help from The Old Farmer’s Almanac Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, which we got on Amazon!
There’s a lot that makes a great gardener, and you should not be discouraged if your first few projects do not go as you planned. There’s always room for trial and error, and hopefully, by fixing mistakes, we can easily learn and do better. If you want to think outside the box, check out these peculiar gardening hacks that actually work!
