I am very fortunate that Asa loves gardening, don’t get me wrong, I do too, but its always having enough time, I am hoping that when Viggo starts full-time school I will suddenly have more free time to commit to the garden, but we shall see.
If you are short on time, then check out our tips for a low maintenance garden. If you’ve only got a few hours a month to spare for working in the garden, a low maintenance garden design will make gardening easier and less frequent.
-
LOSE THE LAWN.
The first instant time saver is to get rid of the lawn and replace with with paving, decking or some shingle, which our neighbour seems very keen on, which looks nice but makes a real noise when you are trying to put the children to bed!! Our grass takes quite a while to cut, so getting rid of it would certainly free up some of your time.
2. KEEP THE LAWN BUT MAKE IT FAKE.
The quality of fake grass has really improved in the last 20 years, today’s high-tech turf solutions are more realistic looking, softer to the touch, and last for years with very low upkeep. Perfect if you want that lush green look but without the worry of mowing, raking or weeding. And you can still yell at the children to Keep Off The Grass!
3. USE POTS FOR PLANTING.
If you don’t have the time to tend to all of the flowers in the garden and clear away the weeds, pots and containers can be used to hold the colours of Spring and Summer, with the added bonus that they can be transported around the garden to wherever you wish, the amount of time required for maintenance is greatly reduced, although don’t go too mad or you will spend just as much time tending to the posts as the flowerbeds!
4. REPLACE HEDGES WITH FENCES.
If your garden borders are made up of hedges, you will find that a great deal of time is taken up trimming, pruning and keeping the hedges in good order, if you replace them with fences, this will save time and will only require treating once per year with a wood treatment, instead of the constant upkeep, although this will depend on if your neighbours agree, unlike mine that decided to chop down giant Leylandi conifers on a day we were out of the house, meaning our beautifully secluded entrance now looked out onto the road…
5. CHOOSE EASY PLANTS.
I am notorious for not being able to keep a house plant alive, so why would any outdoor plants fair better, simple, I choose ones that don’t require too much attention and will pretty much survive by themselves, without me having to worry if I have watered them a particular amount of times! Low maintenance plants will help with a low maintenance garden, there are reasons that children grow Nasturtiums and daffodils when at preschool, if any plant handled by a 3 year old can survive then, they will do well in your garden!
Great post! We don’t have a garden (although hoping to move in the summer!) but we have pot plants on our balcony – they are so easy to maintain even if you aren’t particularly green fingered 🙂
I love being out in the garden, I just never seem to have enough time!
Your tips make sense for people that want to spend less time on their garden, however be careful not to get rid of the garden altogether 😉 Hedges for example only need one cutting per year if it’s done late summer or early fall.