Most of us are time poor with work and home life keeping us busy. When summer comes, we don’t want all our days to be spent tending to our gardens; instead, we want to enjoy time in them with our friends and family.
We’ve gathered a range of techniques that will help you achieve a back garden that is low maintenance and be the beautiful outdoor space you deserve.
1. Consider more composite decking
Composite decking is made from recycled wood, plastic and other materials. While it’s still new to many homebuilders, composite deck boards have been a long-time favorite of deck builders.
Composite decks do not need regular oiling or painting like how timber decks need to be treated.
For homeowners looking for a low-maintenance option that offers similar strength and durability to traditional lumber, composite provides an excellent alternative to the wooden deck boards.
2. Protect shoots with household recycling
Use plastic milk or juice containers to create an enclosure to protect young plant and tree shoots from rodents, birds and other pests that enjoy nipping at the garden.
It’s a quick, easy option that most people have on hand rather than the time-consuming task of traps or netting. Mark what’s in each container, removing the pots only once the plants are more developed.
Tip: Naming your milk containers means you can identify them at a glance.
3. Multi-use tarps
Having tarps on hand is perfect when looking to invest in gardening projects. Tarps are ideal for moving:
- Soil
- Weeks
- Rocks
- Leaves
- And many other materials.
It has many other uses, from covering plants during transportation or protecting young plants from changes in weather. The possibilities are endless.
Tip: Don’t leave a tarp lying around on your grass for long periods as it will kill your lawn.
4. Use cardboard for garden beds
Layering cardboard on the grass, you wish to convert into a space for planting and digging around it to create a channel is one step to easy garden landscaping.
The areas will dry out naturally and prepare the site for planting by adding mulch and plenty of water.
Tip: Placing cardboard over the grass will stop it from getting sunlight, drying out, attaching itself to the medium for easy removal.
5. Give new life to clay pots
Do you want to give your clay pots new life? Mineral deposits build up over time, and cleaning them with water from a hose is time-consuming and largely ineffective.
Vinegar is the answer, and once soaked for about an hour; they will look fresh and new.
Tip: Add one part vinegar to three parts water and soak pots for an hour for best results.
6. Automated rain barrels
Saving water using automated rain barrels is a time-saving way to keep your garden fresh, especially if you don’t have enough irrigation.
There’s no digging or installation of sprinklers required, and attaching the barrel to your gutters means less waste, and your plants are less likely to get swamped by an overflow of water.
Tip: Connect your barrel with a drip line that’s gravity-fed that can be wound throughout your plants for automated watering.
7. Ground covers for slopey gardens
It can be a real struggle to maintain a garden space that emulates beauty on a slope. Ground covers are more likely to thrive in this environment because they’re perfectly suited to tough conditions and require less watering than other choices.
Ground covers require less tending to than lawn, saving you a considerable amount of time tending to your slopey outdoor spaces.
Tip: Ground covers can largely be forgotten because their roots spread.
8. Eggshell plant starters
Using eggshells in halves when planting seedlings is a simple way to get your shoots started until they’re at a point to be transplanted. Planting is as simple as placing them directly into the ground, even with the eggshells.
Growth is encouraged by adding potting soil and water with the seed to the eggshell.
Tip: Eggshells contain nutrients such as calcium which is why they can be planted directly into your garden when it’s ready for transplanting.
9. Get plant control with pots
Suppose you want some control of your garden, plant new flowers and greenery into pots and add them to your garden bed. Manage its growth and care by using fertiliser and potting soil saving you time overall because all you need is to dig and slot it into a hole.
It’s a seamless way to ensure you don’t get overgrowth in your landscaping and have more control over the overall design.
Tip: This process doesn’t work for perennials that will outgrow the pots. It’s more effective for herbs and annuals.
10. Fix your soil with baking soda
Plants such as geraniums are sensitive, especially where the soil may be too acidic, sprinkling baking soil prior to panting will help raise the PH level.
As a versatile kitchen product, most people have it on hand, and all you need to do before planting is water it into the soil.
Tip: Baking soda is cheap and takes seconds to adhere and start making a difference to your landscape.
11. Keep tree stumps
In the unfortunate event or removing a tree from your property, there’s no need to go through the exhaustive process of removing the stump. One of the significant downsides is that it’s a complex and expensive task and leaves a massive hole in the ground that requires filling.
Using the stump in your garden design also makes a great conversation point and a natural pot stand.
Tip: Have children? A tree stump is a fun item for children to jump off and play on.
12. Creative spaces for tools
Our last creative landscaping time-saver is a hack to help you keep tools accessible and in good working order. Filling a bucket with sand and placing your gardening tools into it makes them easy to grab when needed because they’re upright.
We recommend also spraying your tools when you’re finished gardening using them to clean your tools.
Tip: The combined use of mineral oil and sand keeps your tools from dulling and getting rusty.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.