Time-Saving Tips

No time to spare? Use these shortcuts to free yourself up for the fun stuff

Whenever I hearof gardeners who spend hour a daylight in their garden , I get madly jealous . As a mom and married woman with a full - time career , I ’m favorable if I get two or three hours a week during the summer to really concentrate on my garden . High - maintenance plants just do n’t cut it . Mowing is a dreaded chore , and trimming and pruning are things I only want to do once or twice a class . I ’d rather be spending my precious garden meter insert fresh plant to my garden , rearrange things to make cool plant combinations , and pulling a few weeds for therapy . I want to spend most of my time on the fun stuff and forfeit the futile fussing . Here are a few tips that I ’ve come up with over the years to reduce the toil and depart me more time to play .

Plant self-sowing annuals

Annuals are resistless . They add invaluable colour and interest , and they bloom for weeks — if not months . But they take to be implant every year . slews of annuals , however , set themselves by reseeding , save you meter and money . They ’re guaranteed to make combos next year that you never would have thought of . Be aware , though , that these plants reseed where they want , not necessarily where you want . Some of my favorite ego - sowers are marvelous verbena ( Verbena bonariensis * , pictured ) , flowering tobacco ( Nicotiana sylvestris ) , and regal genus Perilla ( Perilla frutescens * cvs . ) .

cut down your clock time on : frequent for annual ; embed

Mulch, then mulch some more

Mulch is a lawful multitasker . It not only now dresses up a garden but also conserves moisture , suppresses weeds , and insulates the soil . One lotion in springiness is all you require . As it breaks down , this yearly layer of mulch will also reduce the amount of amendment and fertilizer you ’ll necessitate to add to your grunge . I like to get mulch delivered from a local baby’s room every bounce . It ’s less expensive and less work than grease one’s palms and cart bags home from the garden centre . Two square yards are enough to layer 2 to 3 inches over the seam in my quarter - acre garden . case , availability , and price variegate from region to region . experimentation with a few to decide what you care best .

garnish your prison term on : Weeding ; tearing ; fertilizing

Buy tried-and-true perennials

It ’s fun to experiment with exciting new and unusual plants in case spot , but if you plan with a foundation of well-to-do - care powerhouses that always do , the test and error of the newest fads wo n’t have as much of a negative impact if they fall poor of your expectations . Classic performers in my Northeast garden admit ‘ Aureola ’ Nipponese woodland Mary Jane ( Hakonechloa macra‘Aureola ’ , USDA Hardiness Zones 5–9 , pictured ) , ‘ Goldsturm ’ ignominious - eyed Susan ( Rudbeckia fulgidavar.sullivantii‘Goldsturm ’ , Zones 4–9 ) , and mould - repellent ‘ David ’ phlox ( Phlox paniculata‘David ’ , zone 4–8 ) . The good way to bump sure performer for your area is to drive around your neighborhood and see what looks dear in every yard , kempt or unkempt . My neighbors all seem to count on Joe Pye weed ( Eupatorium purpureum , Zones 3–9 ) to put on a care - gratis show in late summertime .

trim down your clock time on : Spraying ; primping ; fill in the gaps between straggly or unsuccessful plant

Plant winterproof containers

One of the most backbreaking job in my garden is lugging countless containers up the basement stairs in springiness and back down in spill . All mighty , so my husband handle most of the work , but if he did n’t help oneself , he ’d have to listen to me worry all winter that my pots might crack from the freeze - and - thaw cycle of our demented Connecticut winter . So to save my hubby ’s time for other point on the honey - do list , I ’ve been adding to my ingathering some crapper made out of concrete and good - quality fibreglass ( pictured ) , both of which boast all - time of year sturdiness . maintain containers on my terrace also supply a place to summate winter interest group with some evergreen bough and berries .

Trim your clock time on : stuff wakeless pots ; hen-peck significant other

Rethink your lawn

Some people regain maintain a lawn a Zen - like experience , but if you are like me , it is brutally unremarkable . I have two way to cut repetitive mowing : expound your garden bottom to reduce your lawn , and hire someone else to mow it . If you select the latter , be certain to show that mortal around your garden and communicate your arithmetic mean . You do n’t require to awaken up on Saturday daybreak to the repulsion of your prized peony being gage - wacked to the ground . It may take a few attempts to find out the right individual , but the payoff is more play clock time , which is invaluable .

prune your time on : Mowing ; weeding

Invest in bigger plants

I have sex start my own perennials from seed or buying inexpensive minuscule starts from that coolheaded nursery nearby , but in realism , I do n’t have time to give those little babe the care they need to expand . Three weeks after planting them — if I recollect to discipline on them — they’re long go . I ’m not only heartbroken and feeling shamefaced but also pull up stakes with a hole where I ’d hoped they would have take in . Nowadays , when I fall down in honey with a flora and just have to have it , I find the biggest one available . Plants that are more mature will need less time to fill in and make an impact in my garden . They also wo n’t give felo-de-se at once if I neglect them from sentence to time .

Trim your time on : Watering ; hover ; coddling ; feeling guilty

Add a permanent structure

One sensational slice of garden prowess will disguise a battalion of garden flaw . Picture a beautiful obelisk or birdhouse , a well - crafted arbor , or a statuesque tuteur . Even an age-old bicycle or a clump of brightly painted bamboo canes strategically set in a border will distract the oculus and overshadow unembellished spots and pot . It ’s also something interesting to wait at during the bleak winter months .

Trim your time on : cosmopolitan sustenance

Make your garden self-watering

tearing is one activeness that you ca n’t wipe out , but you sure can make it easy . I use soaker hoses for my repeated borders , and watering systems with anchored emitters ( pictured ) on my patio packed full of container . I set them up on a timer and just have to think about lacrimation . The only thing I do pay attention to is the weather so that I can adjust my lachrymation schedule accordingly . Even the right arrangement need some caution , but it certainly beats madly lugging watering cans around to irrigate your plant before you leave for study in the morning .

cut back your meter on : Watering

Choose shrubs that don’t need pruning

I love my yew hedge , but it never take care its best because I do n’t have the metre or the energy to keep it perfectly trimmed . When I finally get around to rend it out , I plan to exchange it with a shrub that will naturally continue compendious and neat , like ‘ Green Mound ’ boxwood ( Buxus‘Green Mound ’ , Zones 6–9 ) , which tops out at 3 fundament tall and wide . There are lot of larger bush that also involve minimal pruning , like doublefile genus Viburnum ( Viburnum plicatumf.tomentosumand cvs . , geographical zone 4–8 , picture ) , spirea ( Spiraeaspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–9 ) , pittosporum ( Pittosporumspp . and cvs . , Zones 9–11 ) , and ceanothus ( Ceanothusspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–10 ) .

clip your time on : Pruning ; shearing

Lower your standards

We all have dandelions . I have so many in my railway yard that my neighbour harvests them and make dandelion wine , which she shares with us issue forth wintertime . Perfect ! The only person who will mark your uneven edges , the weed patch up in the far turning point of your recurrent border , or the plants you have n’t yet mother into the ground is you . If you pore on eff your garden and loving the metre you drop in it , you wo n’t care that it is n’t absolutely manicure . It ’s a work in forward motion , like us and everything in our lives .

Trim your time on : Everything

Michelle Gervais earned her degree in horticulture at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg , Virginia .

Photos , except where noted : Steven Cominsky

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