Helpful Tips For The Busy Gardener.
Experienced gardeners know there are few heavier drains on their time than keeping a garden in tip-top condition. However, with a bit of planning and the use of a few practical, time saving measures the number of hours that need to be devoted to labour can be reduced and the time actually spent relaxing in the garden increased.
Lawn alternatives
One of the most time consuming garden jobs is mowing the lawn. Grass grows quickly and requires regular cutting to keep it under control and looking neat. Add to that the feeding and fertilisation required to keep it in optimum condition and the time you spend on a lawn really begins to build up.
One way to remove lawn maintenance issues is by simply removing the lawn and replacing it with alternative landscaping solutions such as paving stones, gravel, artificial grass – all which come in a variety of styles and shades. There will be no more dragging the lawnmower around the garden, fighting to keep the greenery neat and tidy. Hard landscaping gives instant definition to a garden, throwing more focus onto areas such as flower borders and veggie plots where the time invested is better rewarded.
Weeds
Another avoidable waste of time in the garden is weeding. By laying permeable weed membranes down in borders prior to planting, unwanted weeds are suppressed in one fell swoop.
Alternatively, extensive mulching will keep weeds down, help retain water in the soil, and add essential nutrients. Mulching is one of the most time-efficient garden jobs you can perform, and the sooner you get into the habit, the sooner you create more time to spend on other areas of the garden. Increasingly, garden gurus advocate the ‘don’t dig, mulch’ message, whereby the physically exhausting and lengthy task of digging over beds is replaced by the easier and quicker addition of more mulch and organic matter in which to plant new specimens.
Plants
You can save time with clever plant choices. Fussy, high-maintenance plants requiring specific conditions have no place in the garden of the time-pressured enthusiast. Forget annual plants that need re-planting every year and opt for reliable hardy perennials that flower year after year with little care required. Species such as daylilies, stonecrop, rudbeckia, acanthus, aubretia, alyssum, and perovskia all merit inclusion in a low maintenance planting scheme.
Bulbs that poke their noses through the soil year after year and offer welcome spring or late summer colour are a valuable weapon in the busy gardener’s armoury.
Be careful to provide the correct site, soil, and general planting conditions for each plant, giving it the best opportunity to thrive. In these days of hosepipe bans, plants that thrive in dry conditions are also often low maintenance. Plants that grow in poor soil with little water and minimal care include lavender, rosemary, nepeta, echinops, euphorbia, and many ornamental grasses.
Many time-strapped gardeners enjoy the control and limited scale offered by container planting. Plants will not become rampant and overgrown and a close eye can be kept on progress. Tomatoes, strawberries, herbs and shrubs all grow well in pots and can soften a bare terrace or patio, giving it a healthy and more vibrant feel.
Another way to give an instant lift to outside spaces such as roof terraces or concrete yards is by laying artificial grass. There is no need to water, mow or feed artificial grass; it is long lasting, resilient and looks and feels very much like the real thing. In many cases, it can be the perfect solution for even the most over-worked gardener.
