Here are 10 garden design mistakes I made when designing my garden from scratch. I started this garden 8 years ago and I've learned many garden design lessons the hard way. I'm no expert! I'm just an avid gardener who loves learning from trial and error. The landscape design tips I'm sharing today are based on personal experience. These gardening mistakes have taught me to take more time when designing a garden from scratch and to fully understand all the nuances of a property before breaking ground on a new garden.