The Truth Behind the Gardens You See on Social Media

Have you ever wondered how the gardens posted on TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram always look so picture perfect? 

A couple days ago, I was talking to members of our Garden Coach Society, and they were all comparing their own gardens to each other's. Basically, each time someone looked at another coach’s garden on social media, they felt inadequate about their own. It was a pretty humorous example of “the garden is always greener in someone else’s raised bed,” but it made me question the point of sharing our gardens with followers and subscribers. 

That point is never to make people feel bad about the space they have or what they’re growing. The point is to inspire others in a Hey, I did this, so you can too-kind of way. Or to share our mistakes and guide others on how to avoid making them. The point is for our wonderful community to learn from each other.

When my garden is videoed or photographed, we often use closer shots to hide the stuff I don’t want you to see. But today, I’m pulling back the curtain, so to speak. I’m going to tell you about the things in my garden that I normally don’t talk about. Here are 12 things I’m a little embarrassed about in my garden:

One

I filmed a video about how to plant potatoes and then left some seed potatoes to rot in my pollinator garden… for weeks. 

Two

I never picked my broccoli. I intended to harvest it in a video, but I forgot, and next thing I knew, it had bolted. So I basically tended four broccoli plants to end up with more seeds (not that I need any more seeds).

Three

I’ve got two bags of soil just plopped on the ground next to my pollinator garden. We’ve had to film around them for weeks. What’s worse is they’re not even the right kind of organic soil that I wanted to buy.

Four

I harvested lemon balm in a video a couple weeks ago, and I said I was going to take the stems inside and make a bouquet for my bathroom. But I never did, so they’ve just been sitting here looking sad and dead. 

Five

I ordered a tansy plant from an organic herb company two years ago, and since then, it’s grown to be the biggest thing in my entire garden space. I don’t really know much about the plant or even whether I should worry about it becoming invasive because, honestly, I haven’t had the time to research it. I probably need to pull it.

Six

I had grand ideas about harvesting all of these big, perfect cabbage heads at once—piles and piles of cabbage. But the temperature randomly spiked, and all of the cabbage plants bolted. Now, my cabbage heads are covered in dirt and pests—definitely not Instagram-worthy.

Seven

I way over-planted kale. I’m supposed to be a gardening pro, and I should have done the math to figure out how much I actually needed for my family. My internal debate: Do I take them out and admit I made a mistake or let them keep cramping the warm season plants I’m trying to grow?  

Eight

This one really gets me. I consider growing tomatoes up an arch trellis to be my thing, my calling card as a gardener. My excessive amount of kale plants (see embarrassment number seven) have crowded my tomatoes. So here it is, almost halfway through July, and I don’t have very many fruits on the vine. 

Nine

I let a weed grow instead of pulling it out instantly, and now I can’t get rid of it. It’s starting to flower, but I still haven’t bothered to try to identify what it is. I guess it’s staying in my raised beds forever?

Ten

Note to self: If you don’t pull lettuce when you’re supposed to and then you get a lot of rain, those leafy greens turn into green slime. Absolutely disgusting! 

Eleven

I put together this massive arch trellis in a video about a month ago, and I said I was going to move it into my backyard and grow vines on it. But I didn’t, and here it still sits, right outside my kitchen window, to remind me every day that I haven’t followed through. 

Twelve

I bought a ground cherry plant from a local farmer, and I don’t know what to do with it. Sometimes, I just want to buy something to learn more about it, but then I feel embarrassed when I can’t teach about it.

Those are just some of the absolute messes, the plants not timed correctly, the plants that fail to produce the way you want them to, and, of course, the embarrassments that every gardener faces at some point or another. I hope that makes you feel a little better about yourself!  

Speaking of things that can make you feel better about yourself… having a community of gardeners around you to share their knowledge and inspiration. Gardenary 365 is that community, a place where gardeners from all over can come together and encourage each other to keep growing themselves and the garden. 

Gardenary is here to make the garden ordinary in your life and to remind you that things don’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.