Beginner Garden Essentials: My Favourite Products + A Late-Summer Garden Update
Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you shop through them, at no extra cost to you. I've included products I've personally used in my garden, along with a few supplies I'm considering for next season. I'll always be clear about which is which.
If you've been following along with my beginner garden tour all summer, you already know I went into this season with a lot of enthusiasm and not a whole lot of experience. Gardening season in Ontario is starting to wind down, but before I pack away the trowels for the year, I wanted to round up beginner garden essentials that actually earned their spot in my garden, from the tools and supplies I reached for most to the things I wish I'd bought sooner. Plus, I'm sharing a real update on how everything has grown (and grown on me) since July.
Whether you're already dreaming about next spring's garden or just want a low-pressure way to close out this one, this post is your friend-to-friend rundown of what worked, what I'd buy again, and what to do before the season fully wraps. It's my beginner garden essentials cheatsheet for you.
I also filmed this whole update as a video tour, and honestly, with how much changed while I was away, it's easier to see it than read about it. Watch the full garden tour on YouTube and hit subscribe so you don't miss next month's update either.
If we haven’t met yet, I’m Brittany — a mom of seven, home renovation enthusiast, an Amazon bestselling author, podcast host, and a business owner who’s all about keeping life real and doable. I know firsthand how messy, beautiful, and overwhelming motherhood can feel, and I share from that space of “in the trenches” right alongside you.
Here, you’ll find encouragement, practical tips, and honest conversations about balancing family, work, and your own sense of self. My hope is that you’ll walk away feeling a little lighter, a little more seen, and a whole lot more equipped to create a life that works for you and your family. Follow me on Instagram @brittanynmiller_ for more.
Table of Contents
A Quick Update From My Garden
So while I've technically been "away" from the garden for the last two to three weeks, my husband Grayson took over watering, weeding, and Googling everything he didn't know and honestly, the garden survived better than I expected.
If you missed my July beginner garden tour, you might want to take a peek before reading on. It's pretty fun to compare what everything looked like earlier in the summer with how much the garden has grown since then. Some things are thriving, some things have completely taken over, and others... well, let's just say I've learned a few lessons along the way. 😂
A few highlights since July:
Our new arches are already sprouting zucchini, fall squash, beans, and carrots, planted just a week and a half before we left for the hospital
The Swiss chard, carrots, broccolini, and beets in one of our beds have been thriving (the Brussels sprouts are still catching up, but they're getting there)
The blueberry bushes and raspberry canes are growing but not bearing fruit yet, that's a next-year project
And a few things that didn't go quite as planned:
What I thought was a strawberry plant turned out to be a mint plant hiding in the same container so that bed now needs a full mint extermination
Our tomato plants outgrew the string we used to train them up their stakes, and the weight snapped several of them (lesson learned for next year: sturdier support from the start)
The cucamelons took over their entire bed and crowded out everything around them, cute idea, wrong spot
You don't need your garden to look Pinterest-perfect for it to count as a win. Between a busy summer and, you know, having twins, this season was about learning what actually grows well here and what I'd do differently, not about getting everything right on the first try.
Watch my full garden walkthrough here:
What Are the Most Important Garden Tools for Beginners?
If you're just starting out, you really only need a handful of tools to get going. A sturdy hand trowel, a good pair of pruning shears, gardening gloves, and a watering can (or hose with an adjustable nozzle) will cover most of what a beginner garden actually needs. Beyond that, everything else is a nice-to-have rather than a must-have.
The mistake I made early on was buying a little bit of everything before I knew what I'd actually use regularly. My advice? Start with the basics, use them for a season, and then invest in anything more specialized once you know what your garden and your habits actually need.
And if you're brand new to gardening and aren't even sure what to plant or where to start, check out my vegetable gardening for beginners guide. I share more about getting started with your own vegetable garden, so you can figure out what you actually need before you start filling your cart with supplies. Trust me, it's very easy to get carried away. 😂
My Favourite Beginner Garden Essentials This Season
These are the products I reached for again and again this year. I've linked everything directly to my Amazon storefront and my dedicated garden shop list so you can shop the exact items.
These are the products from my Amazon garden list that earned a real spot in my garden this year, plus a couple I'm adding to my cart for next spring.
Before the product list, though, I have to mention the one resource that guided nearly everything I did this season: The Purposeful Gardener by Tasha Medve. This book was genuinely my gardening bible all year, approachable, practical, and written for exactly the kind of beginner I was in January. If you only buy one thing off this list, make it this.
For everyday tasks:
COOLJOB Kids Gardening Gloves, 3 Pairs — Rubber-coated kids' gloves sized for little hands because my kids always want to help in the garden, which has been a lot of fun and only minorly stressful
Sinoer Cast Aluminum Trowel — An ergonomic hand trowel for digging, planting, and weeding.
AWHAO Elegant Watering Can — A classic watering can for indoor and outdoor use.
For giving your plants room to breathe:
OZMSHF 8x4ft Raised Garden Beds, 3-Pack — Metal raised bed frames for defining and spacing out planting areas. We built ours out of extra wood from our reno but these are great if you don’t have the materials for beds already on hand.
For next spring's head start:
Miracle-Gro Seed Starting Potting Mix, 2-Pack — A potting mix formulated specifically for germinating seeds.
PureLife Soil Premium Worm Castings — A natural soil amendment for improving fertility.
HYDGOOHO Seedling Heat Mat, 2-Pack — A dual-certified heat mat that warms trays from below to speed up germination.
Aumtrly Full Spectrum Grow Light — A slim, full-spectrum LED grow light for indoor seed starting. I really regret not buying these this year. My seeds would have developed more before going outside and my harvests would have started sooner. Lesson learned.
The full list plus everything else I use is always up to date on my Amazon storefront.
Is It Too Late to Plant a Garden in September?
Not even close, you just have to stop planting like it's June. In my zone (6b), mid-September is less about wrapping everything up and more about switching from "grow before frost" crops to fast, cool-season ones that don't mind a chilly night.
A quick note: This section reflects what I was planting in September in my Ontario Zone 6b garden. If you're reading this at another time of year, use it as an example of how your planting options change throughout the season, rather than a current planting calendar.
Here's what's still realistic to plant right now:
What to plant | What to expect |
Spinach | One of the best choices, harvest baby leaves this fall, and established plants can even overwinter for an early spring crop |
Lettuce / mesclun | Great for baby greens; pick quicker varieties and harvest young instead of waiting for full heads |
Arugula | Fast and cold-tolerant, often ready in 30–40 days |
Radishes | One of the safest September picks, many varieties mature in 20–35 days |
Baby kale | Won't get you giant plants, but young leaves are worth it and kale handles frost well |
Mustard greens | Fast-growing and cold-tolerant, similar to arugula |
Asian greens (tatsoi, quick pak choi) | Worth it for baby leaves, especially quicker varieties |
Turnips | Quick varieties can produce small roots; the greens are harvestable even if the roots don't fully size up |
Cilantro | Actually prefers cooler weather over summer heat. A solid fall pick |
Garlic | Plant later this fall for next summer's harvest, this is genuinely the best time to plant it all year |
Perennial herbs (thyme, oregano, sage, chives) | Established nursery plants can go in now and have time to root in before the ground freezes |
A few things I wouldn't confidently tell you to start from seed this late, carrots, beets, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and full-size Brussels sprouts are all past their ideal fall-planting window by mid-September. They needed a few more weeks' head start.
Here's where my own garden makes a good (if slightly humbling) example. I planted my arch of zucchini, squash, beans, and carrots back around August 21, so if you're looking at that part of my garden right now, please don't plant zucchini today, it's too late for that. But if you're feeling like you "missed" the season entirely, you haven't, spinach, lettuce, mesclun, arugula, radishes, or baby kale are all still fair game, with garlic to follow later this fall.
Honestly, that's been the theme of my whole first year: I started with a giant dream garden plan back in January, realistically only got a few beds built, planted most things later than I'd intended, and still ended up with food growing everywhere by August. September isn't too late to start, it just asks for a different kind of planting.
What Should You Do to Close Out Your Garden for the Season?
Fall is less about giving up on your garden and more about setting it up to come back stronger next year. A few end-of-season tasks make a real difference: clearing out spent plants so pests and disease don't overwinter in the debris, adding a layer of compost to your beds, and continuing to water trees and shrubs until the ground actually freezes. Removing diseased plant material (rather than composting it) is one of the most overlooked steps beginners skip.
If you're gardening here in Ontario specifically, Landscape Ontario's fall checklist is a great one to bookmark, it breaks tasks down month by month, from collecting seeds and herbs in September through to prepping your beds before the first freeze. September is also considered one of the best windows for planting trees, shrubs, and spring-flowering bulbs, since the still-warm soil and cooler air actually promote healthy root growth before winter.
Here's a simple close-out checklist to work through over the next few weeks:
Pull spent annuals and clear diseased plant material (bin it, don't compost it)
Add a fresh layer of compost or mulch to your beds
Keep watering trees, shrubs, and perennials until the ground freezes
Collect and save seeds from anything you want to grow again
Plant garlic or spring-flowering bulbs while the soil is still workable
Store your tools somewhere dry so they're ready to go next spring
Do You Need Expensive Tools to Have a Successful Beginner Garden?
Not even a little. Some of the most useful garden tools are also the simplest, a basic trowel and a decent pair of gloves will get you through the vast majority of beginner tasks. The tasks that matter most (clearing beds, protecting plants, restoring soil health) don't require specialty equipment, just consistency.
Where it's worth spending a little more is on the tools you'll use constantly, a good pair of pruning shears, for example, will outlast a cheap pair many times over. Everything else, you can build up slowly as you figure out what your specific garden actually needs.
Common Beginner Gardening Mistakes I've Learned From
This was my first full season out in the garden, and I made basically every beginner mistake there is. Here's what I'd tell myself if I could go back to spring:
You will overcrowd your beds. I planted beans, peppers, and cucumbers all in the same bed this year, and some of it simply didn't have room to thrive. If you're not sure how much space a plant needs, give it more than you think.
Flimsy support won't hold a heavy harvest. I used string to train our tomatoes up their stakes, and once the tomatoes actually started growing, the weight snapped it. Sturdier stakes or a proper trellis from the start would've saved a lot of broken plants.
Not everything that looks like a strawberry is a strawberry. A "strawberry" plant I picked up turned out to be a mint plant that had taken over the container at the store. Mint spreads fast, so now I'm dealing with a bit of an extermination project.
Some plants just need more structure than you'd expect. Our cucamelons grew wild and tangled through an entire bed. If I plant them again, it's on an arch or trellis only, never loose in a bed and never with other plants.
You won't get to everything, and that's okay. Between a busy season and (in my case) having twins mid-summer, some beds got less attention than others. The garden didn't fall apart, it just told me clearly what to plan around next year.
Some plants just won't make it, and you may never know why. My squash didn't survive in its pot, and I'm still not totally sure what went wrong. Filing that one under "more research needed before next year."
Give your seedlings every advantage you can. I skipped growing lights when I started my seeds indoors, and the mature starters I bought from the store ended up producing before my own did. Bigger, stronger starts mean an earlier harvest, grow lights are non-negotiable next year.
Whatever timeline you're picturing, double it. Planting the actual seeds is quick. It's the weeding, the bed-building, and the research that eats your time. This was a big learning year, and I genuinely didn't expect to spend so much of it reading.
Only grow what you'll actually eat. We planted a few things we'd never really eaten before, like radishes, turns out nobody in this house likes them. Even beets are questionable. "Easy to grow" doesn't mean "worth growing" if it's just going to sit in your fridge.
Your plan will change, and that's normal. I started designing this garden back in January, and I've redesigned the layout about six times since. Give yourself permission to keep adjusting as you learn.
Only buy the seeds you'll actually plant. I got excited and bought a little bit of everything, and since seeds only stay viable for about two years, I'm already tossing some and racing to use others before they expire too. Be thoughtful about what you actually want to grow and how many seeds you really need, it saves money and cuts down on waste.
None of this means you're doing it wrong. It means you're learning exactly what your space, your plants, and your season actually need, which is the whole point of a beginner garden in the first place.
Wrapping Up This Garden Season
This season taught me that a thriving garden isn't about having every tool or getting everything right, it's about starting with a few good essentials, paying attention as you go, and giving yourself grace when something doesn't work out the way you planned. That's honestly a pretty good metaphor for building a business too.
If you're curious about the exact products I used this year, you can shop my full garden essentials list on Amazon and if you want to see how the garden actually looked along the way, go back and check out my July garden tour. I'd love to hear what you're growing (or planning to grow next spring), drop a comment or send me a DM, I always love swapping notes with fellow beginner gardeners.
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