Well you are certainly right about squirrels!!!

My first garden taught me that overfeeding is wasted on plants but much appreciated by hordes of bacteria, fungi and insects.

I'm still trying to master the first one... ;)

Don't plant species you think you should like, but really don't for some reason. I know that sounds odd, but some really great plants in many ways, have features that just don't float my boat. I will occasionally plant them, but always end up pulling them out later. Yet just a few days ago, I bought another pelargonium, knowing it's days in my garden are counting down before it even gets planted the ground. lol I've gone through four rounds of trying galvezia; they never flower worth a darn for me, so I always end up introducing them to the green waste bin.

Remove the uglies. A rare plant that is struggling and is visually bringing down the landscape should usually be removed and replaced with a plant that will be healthy in that location. [This also holds true for people that have emotional difficulty with removing established plants, even if they are growing in the wrong location. I tend to not hesitate with removing common stuff, though.]

Always check for invasive tendencies first. And don't assume a 3' concrete sidewalk is a sufficient barrier.

"Drought tolerant" is something of a misnomer for our Mediterranean climate. "Drought tolerant" east of the Mississippi means a plant can survive a few weeks without rain. A few weeks without rain! Hilarious.

"Climate appropriate" is a more accurate term.

Yeah, Galvezia. Yecch. Outta here.

Don't judge a book by its cover -- delicate looking plants can be invasive.

I'm so sick of squirrelly antics and destruction. And they're multiplying in the neighborhood!

No problems with galvezia speciosa blooming; the floppy and eccentric growth habit drove me crazy.

When you're less than 5' tall, using telescoping this, and extendable that, ladders and step ladders only take you so far.

When I decide a plant has had it's change, I call it clear, alt, delete and have no problems with doing so.

The garden dept. mature clerk at Home Depot today described Hibiscus as hardy. Beware of information/advice from people mis-using garden terms.

When someone describes the height of a plant be sure to ask what climate they're in and what kind of soil. I did think the Buddleia would be 6 foot. About 15' here.

When you begin a new bed in adobe soil, remove 3-4 inches of it first. Then begin digging in amendments (compost).

There are hardy hibiscus sold at Home Depot...but they also sell the tropical hibiscus, that is not so. It depends upon at which plant their fingers were pointing. ;) I had a nursery worker there once explain to me why he was watering the plants. ha ha. A few minutes later it was me explaining to their customer how to properly maintain the foliage of Alstroemeria. I agree, definitely go to a proper garden center if one needs info with the plant!

Don't expect raspberries to survive longer than a year. Not in this climate.

When they say flowering cherries (Yoshino/Kwanzan) don't do so well in this low chill climate, that means they'll probably die after a year or two. But that's the regular grafted trees you buy at the nursery. They can manage to grow (and even flower a bit) if they are own root.

"Low maintenance" means it doesn't need to be watered constantly in the Summer in this climate. Most of the really interesting plants are not low maintenance.

If you have roses, you need to water them if you want blooms.

Don't let a vine grow out of control. You may never be able to get rid of it. No matter how many times you hack it back it will keep coming back.

Stay on top of invassive weed plants. If you neglect them for years it will be a huge amount of work to try to eliminate them. Several plants that are sold as low maintenance ornamentals are actually invassive weeds.

Watch out Asian wisteria, asparagus fern, creeping fig (if neglected for a long time), sedge that gains a foothold in overwatered grass.

Different plants behave differently here than they do in other parts of the country. For example Callery pears are not really invassive, and common weeds in other parts of the country are not a problem here.

You're not going to get very far renovating a garden without a good shovel, and someone with decent strength to push it through hard soil.

Find soil that holds water well, otherwise you're going to be watering everyday because the plants will keep drying out.