What are your best tips for a newbie gardener?

Check out the local branch of your Wild Ones organization. They teach about and promote gardening with native plants. My local branch (West Cook Wild Ones) has regular plant sales, webinars, and classes. I have been slowly building a native garden using perennials designed to attract pollinators. The information they share is worth the membership fee. Native gardening is rather easy and better for the environment.

Visit regularly, or better yet, become a member of your nearest Botanical Garden. You'll get inspiration, education, access to proven p!ants and seeds, and the surety that the p!ants being grown there will work in your nearby garden. We are spoiled here in NY metro area with NYBG, BBG and Wave Hill.

I am a Garden Designer and these are the resources that I rely on.

An earlier note mentions the Cooperative Extension Program; extensive free resources and education. In non-Covid times, look for the Master Gardener table or booth at Farmers Markets and outdoor events.

I have been gardening for years, so I've tried many kinds of gloves. I found that True Blue kitchen/household chore lined rubber gloves work best. Totally waterproof and thorn-proof. I buy them in green, of course! They are indestructible and inexpensive.

1. You don’t need to root-till a large patch for a garden. I typically dig a small hole and plop in the plant. This works with plants, not so much with seeds.
2. Grass clipping are a great mulch. A thin layer of newspaper on the ground, topped with the clipping really helps with weeds.
3. Plant garlic, lots and lots of garlic! If possible get some at a local farmers market, or order it - just don’t use grocery store garlic. This is typically a fall planting. You will be amazed! It grows about six inches, stops for the winter, then starts again in the spring. In the dead of winter you still have green in the garden.
4. Toss in a few flowers that the pollinators like.

As someone who has been gardening for 30 years & not wanting to overwhelm a newbie, I only have 3 always-relevant tips:

1. READ!! Read online &/or take out gardening books from your local library. You don't have to use all the advice &/or tips, but you'll get good advice on the basics from different sources.
2. Start small!!! You can always expand later on in the season or next year, but overwhelming yourself at first will only ruin the experience for you.
3. Start by growing things you're interested in eating (or seeing in bloom flower-wise). There will be plenty of time to experiment with other things in future seasons once you've gotten your gardening feet wet.

1) Raised beds are wonderful. We use the Gardner’s Supply catalog.
2)Grow what you love & everything tastes better from the garden than it does from the grocery store
3)Always grow something you’ve never tried just for the experience
4)Grow herbs, experiment with them & for sure freeze them in the fall.
5)Don’t grow in containers if you can absolutely help it. You will never get the same result and watering containers will kill you.
6)If you have children, involve them from the beginning. They will be much more likely to eat the produce.
7)Find fun Gardner friends to compare notes, swap produce & make dinner together

Grow your soil to grow your plants. I found composting to be a great way to keep active in the garden when I wasn't growing plants. In my case, I moved to a place where the soil was tough, red clay, so I put raised beds on top of the soil and filled them with light mix of peat, compost, vermiculite, and perlite. I also mulched with shredded leaves which kept the weeds to a minimum.

Check out local extension offices or cooperatives for your county or a nearby county. They have gardening experts who offer great advice and knowledge for your area (what plants do well, how to start composting, etc).

For a starter vegetable garden, start with veges (and herbs) that you WANT to eat and are easy to grow in your area. Look for proven varieties in your area.... your local nurseries will be a great source of both plants and information (and you get extra points if they are a local small business, too!)

Join a local garden club.
Lots of helpful advice from people that are knowledgeable and aren’t trying to sell you products you probably do not need.
Most gardeners are generous with excess seeds, plants, pots, etc...
If you do not live close to a garden club, most regional botanical gardens have on line forums that you can ask questions on.
Also very important to observe where you intend to cultivate, how many hours of sunlight or shade, how is the soil, will it need to be amended?