For most people, having a busy schedule is a constant in life, and if you are one who enjoys gardening, it can be tricky to find the time to get into your garden every day. Lucky for you, there are a great many ways to be a "lazy" gardener. In this blog, I will share a few ways that might help you find more success in the garden while balancing a busy work life.
Mulch around your plants -
When thinking about what is a big time commitment and inconvenience in the garden, weeding would surely come to mind. If you want to avoid weeding every couple days, consider mulching around your plants. Besides somthering weeds, mulching provides other fantastic benefits like bringing in more earthworms, retaining moisture, and regulating the soil temperature.
Water less, but more heavily -
You might think you need to water your plants every day, but in fact, this is not generally true. By letting a soaker hose or sprinkler run long enough to allow the ground to absorbe water six inches deep, you will encourage deep rooting which will increase the plants' ability to soak up water and will keep you away from watering duties for several days!
Cut flower heads -
If you would love to see your garden stay attractive without hours of extra work, cutting flower heads could benefit you greatly. By doing this quick and easy task, you are helping direct energy into more flowers and stronger growth! This also controls the spread of seed pods before they become overly abundant and disperse across your garden.
Plant what is easy to monitor -
If you are already struggling with the amount of time you have to focus on gardening, there is no need to plant things that will likely fall victim to diseases or pests without the proper time commitment. If a plant needs to be inspected on a daily basis to ensure its health, maybe it's not the right plant for you right now. This is not to worry about, as there are plenty of plants that do not require precise monitoring. The best thing to do is to take time to research and decide what is easily manageable for you.
Plant what you want to invest in -
Perhaps the best piece of advice I can give is to grow what you love and want to invest in. Know that you can't grow everything, so grow plants that bring back good memories, that you think are beautiful, or that you enjoy cooking with. Whatever you don't decide on growing, you could buy at a local farmer's market! There is no perfect list for what plants to grow, so grow what is right for you and your garden.