And don't be afraid to fail! For every lush, productive plant you see in a longtime gardener's garden, there were ten (maybe a hundred!) that went belly-up. You have to try things, see what works where, learn what you're good at growing in the space you're in. After gleaning some of the basics from
books and guides and whatnot,
experience is the very best teacher.
To paraphrase one of our NW garden gurus: "The best gardener is the one who's killed the most plants." :-)
And good luck!