Accessible gardening tips

Hi @Anabel - I became a 'gardener' out of necessity, & am lucky to have had the benefit of experience from my next door neighbours. Also fortunate that my small garden came with 4 raised beds, to which I added a 5th; one is for herbs; one is just for flowers, & the others for veg, altho my cat has undermined my efforts in the past 2 years!

Flowers & veg combine; buy bee-friendly plants to aid propagation, or others to ward off harmful insects from your veg.

I also have lots of containers, with bay leaf outside my front door, various heathers, lavender, ferns, alpines & cacti. My one luxury was having a very small greenhouse added, which adjoins my garden shed. I grow tomatoes in my greenhouse, tho didn't get as many as usual this year, but start off seeds in there, both veg & flowers.

I think it's important to grow what you like; despite my cat, I've found many varieties of beans easy, leeks, lettuce, nasturtiums (you can eat the slightly peppery leaves, & also the flowers), courgettes, beetroot, spring onions & garlic, for example.

Low maintenance plants.....as well as lavender, I'm very fond of aubretia & collect seeds from the ripened brown pods each year to add to next years; buy one plant (or more) & you won't need buy any more ever again. Do look at other alpines, also perennials; crocosomia is another low maintenance plant I like as it adds height.

This year I tried begonias for the first time, which lasted for months with so many flowers until frosts began. Again, wise words from an older gardener, who said you can save the tubers for next year, so hope they will survive.

I can recommend one place I've been using for years for not only veg, but edible flowers: https://www.realseeds.co.uk/    they promote collecting seeds, & tell you how, so that after the initial reasonable buying price, you may not need to purchase from them again, unless you want to try something different! Also, if you're on a low income, you just need to declare this to get seeds at a low P&P price. Hope some of this helps, as gardening, in whatever shape it takes, gives us a reason to go outside, which can help enormously both physically & mentally.