Boost Your Garden with Expert Gardeners' Hacks for a Paired-Down, Eye-catching Oasis
Streamlining your gardening life has never been easier, even if you're swamped with time constraints or encumbered by physical limitations. With these pro tips from our favorite gardening experts, you'll be well on your way to a happier, hassle-free backyard haven.
Knock out weeds with minimal fuss
Embrace mulch - Charles Dowding, champion of no-dig growing, swears by it. A simple application of mulch at the start can significantly reduce weeding time, making your borders and beds softer and more manageable. Curb weed overgrowth with regular, gentle applications of mulch instead of monthly maintenance. Oh, and let's not forget the old saying: "one year seeding is seven years' weeding." So, don't let weeds go to seed!
For particularly stubborn weed beds, lay cardboard on top with a little compost to hold it in place (about 2cm should do). This cardboard deprives the weeds of sunlight and rots into the ground, eradicating these pesky invaders.
Keep tough plants in the mix
When selecting plants for a new area, ensure they are tailored to the conditions - hot and sunny; shady and water-logged, etc. - or they'll be a constant source of frustration. Forget finicky plants that need pampering; instead, opt for hardy, low-maintenance perennials that thrive on their own. Here are Ed Bollom's current favorite time-savers: Achillea millefolium, Geum, Anthemis tinctoria, Persicaria amplexicaulis, Astrantia major, Eryngium planum, Salvia nemorosa, Erigeron karvinskianus and Sanguisorba hakusanensis.
Revamp your sowing routine
Springtime seed-sowing sessions can be delightful, but the tedium of pricking out and potting on seedlings may dissuade even the most ardent gardener. Simplify the process by sowing straight into modules instead of seed trays - a move just made by Rachel de Thame, who has recently tackled neuropathy in her fingers.
Make your compost heap everywhere
Instead of diligently carting off deadheaded flowers, let them lie in the border and simply frazzle away into the ground. Troy Scott-Smith employs this tactic at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, saving the garden team a fair bit of time and effort.
Embrace the 'chop and drop' method
Autumn is a busy time for cutting down perennial plants, but with the 'chop and drop' method, you can make the most of these leaves. Elizabeth Salvesen and her team at Whitborough House cut down all their perennial plants in the autumn and simply leave the stems on the ground in the beds to provide cover for creatures and the soil. In February, before the new growth starts to emerge, they take a strimmer to the lot, and the chopped up material soon rots away into the ground.
Stay focused
Georgie Newbery, flower farmer at Common Farm Flowers in Somerset, stresses the importance of doing one job at a time. "Do not plant dahlias until all your seedlings are pricked out, or prick out those seedlings until all the beds are mulched." This organizing strategy can significantly boost efficiency and reduce effort.
Replace flowers with shrubs
For a garden that grows old gracefully, design it with a structure of trees and shrubs that thrive without frequent pruning or high-maintenance herbaceous borders. Think long-lasting, fade-resistant flowering evergreens like Viburnum tinus, Osmanthus, Choisya and Daphne. Buxus is a common choice, but be cautious of the risk of box moth and blight. If you want to keep things low maintenance, let your bushes grow naturally without pruning.
Get the right tools for the job
Tools like battery-powered hedge trimmers are lighter and less tiring to use than their petrol-powered counterparts. For fatigued hands, snips with a spring action (such as those from Niwaki) can help prevent RSI (repeated stress injury).
Longer lawns require less work
Letting grass grow longer in certain areas - especially with snaking paths meandering through - can be a positive statement for nature. Embrace a meadow-like lawn that only needs to be cut once a year in late autumn. You'll have to remove hefty weeds such as docks and thistles, but the time saved makes it worthwhile.
Reinvent your pots
Forget the intensive care of annuals for pots; instead, opt for perennials like salvias, hostas, lavenders, and Verbena bonariensis. Grouping pots together for watering and strategic placement of water butts near the most intensive areas can save time and effort.
Clever crops for smart cultivation
In the vegetable beds, use companion plants like alyssum, viola, tagetes, and calendula as ground covers to suppress weeds and attract beneficial insects. Hoe rows of vegetables or cut flowers generously, so you can whizz between the rows with a hoe rather than getting down on your hands and knees and carefully weeding. Hoeing is quicker than hand-weeding and with a long handle, you can stay upright and keep your back straight.
For those looking for an easy life on their allotment or vegetable patch, focus on perennial veg and fruit, such as currants, gooseberries, rhubarb, artichokes, Welsh onions, and sorrel. These plants regrow year after year and can be found less frequently in the supermarket.
- Keep a balance of tough plants in your gardens for minimal maintenance.
- Implement a sowing routine that simplifies the process of pricking out and potting on seedlings.
- Adopt a 'chop and drop' method in autumn to make the most of plant debris and save time.
- Design gardens with a structure of low-maintenance evergreen shrubs for an old-graceful look.
- Utilize clever crops like alyssum, viola, tagetes, and calendula as ground covers to suppress weeds and attract beneficial insects in the vegetable beds.
