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The Beginner's Garden with Jill McSheehy

452 - 10 Biggest Garden Lessons in 2025

The Beginner's Garden with Jill McSheehy

Jill McSheehy

How To, Leisure, Education, Home & Garden

4.7 • 830 Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Did your garden struggle in ways you couldn't quite explain? Or maybe it did okay, but you know it could be better next year. In this episode, I'm sharing 10 garden lessons 2025 taught me through real-life growing, testing, and conversations with other gardeners. These aren't complicated techniques or overwhelming plans. They're small, practical insights about soil, transplants, shade, timing, and planning that can make a big difference. Whether you're already dreaming about next season or just tucking ideas away for later, this episode will help you grow with more confidence next year.

Free Download: Garden Cheat Sheet

A simple, step-by-step starter plan to help you know what to plant and when.
https://journeywithjill.net/gardening/when-to-plant/

Key Takeaways

  • Why bark-heavy bagged soil can quietly limit plant growth.

  • How warmth and growing degree days affect crop timing and harvests.

  • Why strong transplants matter more than you might think.

  • How shade can help or hurt crops depending on the season.

  • Simple ways to plan successions without overwhelm.

Chapters

00:00 – Why this episode matters now
02:45 – How bark-heavy soil hurts plants
08:40 – What growing degree days explain
13:35 – Why strong transplants matter
18:12 – How shade changes productivity
21:29 – Simple succession planting ideas
26:45 – Trusting your climate instincts
29:38 – Lettuce varieties worth growing
33:50 – Cold-hardy surprises in the garden
36:51 – Self-watering bed results
40:45 – Growing squash vertically
43:58 – Wrapping up the 2025 season

Resource Links

Sponsor for This Episode

Garden in Minutes – Easy, efficient garden irrigation systems that save time and water. Use code JILL for 7% off your order.
http://journeywithjill.net/gardeninminutes

Disclaimer

Gardening advice shared in this podcast is based on my own experience in Zone 8a (Arkansas) and from the feedback I receive from others in different gardening contexts. Your results may differ depending on your location, climate, and growing conditions. Always check your local extension service or trusted resources for region-specific guidance.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

What if a few small changes, like choosing the right bag of soil or planting stronger transplants,

0:06.6

could make your garden grow better next year than it ever has?

0:12.1

Today I'm going to share with you the lessons that 2025 taught me that not only moved the needle

0:19.1

in my garden, but also did the same for some people that I have

0:23.2

spoken with and have talked to. And I think a couple of them will not only surprise you, but

0:28.3

hopefully we'll be able to help you make better choices and changes in your garden next year.

0:34.6

Now, since it's December and I know that your schedule is already so packed,

0:38.9

I don't expect you to be in full planning mode quite yet. This episode isn't here to lead you down

0:45.0

a group of tasks. It's simply here to give you a few ideas that you can tuck away for later.

0:51.1

Something to spark your thoughts when you are ready to start dreaming about next year's

0:56.2

garden. In fact, in one of my Friday emails recently, I asked what kind of winter gardener you are

1:02.6

and 42% of you said that you are an early planner. If that's you, this episode is going to be right up

1:09.9

your alley. And if planning early isn't your strong suit, no worries, this episode will give you some quiet

1:15.6

inspiration that you can return to whenever the garden season feels close to you again.

1:21.2

And by the way, if you don't get my Friday emails yet, that's where conversations like

1:25.6

this happen every week.

1:27.1

So definitely you'll want to jump in there.

1:29.3

You can go to journey withjil.net slash garden sign up. You can also get a lot of free resources to

1:34.5

download while you're there. We'll also put that link in the show notes. So before we get started,

1:39.1

those of you who are regular listeners may notice that my voice sounds a little bit off today.

1:43.7

I will have to

1:44.6

apologize for that. I have been battling a pretty bad cold and sinus infection, and my voice is

...

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