Gardening Hacks for Busy People

The average American spends 67 minutes a week gardening, but anyone wanting a nice outdoor space will need to dedicate significantly more hours. Sometimes, you simply don’t have the time for all that maintenance. If you want a better backyard in time for summer, but don’t have the time to work on it or the money to pay someone else to, then there are a number of time-saving techniques you can deploy. With these gardening hacks, you can achieve your perfect garden in a fraction of the time.

Watering Techniques

Gardens need a huge quantity of moisture, requiring an average of 30% of your daily water usage. This can take a significant chunk of time out of your day, especially when you consider the gutter maintenance tasks and tank cleaning that is also required. Any time saved on watering is well worth the effort.

There are several watering techniques for the busy gardener. You can purchase bottle top spikes, which attach to a wine bottle. Simply fill the wine bottle and the spikes will slowly release water as required into the flowerpot. Alternatively, roll up paper towels and place one end in a container filled with water and the other in the flowerbed. Water will be gradually transported to the plants over several weeks, with no input needed from you.

Self-Planting Flowers

Most plants will bloom annually for a several weeks during the spring, but will then need to be replanted. While they add color and character to a backyard, this takes time and energy each year which many people don’t have. Fortunately, this isn’t necessary if you select the right plants.

Self-seeding flowers will replenish themselves, so you only need to plant them once and they’ll do the rest of the work. Some popular ones include aquilegia, forget-me-nots, feverfew, and the California poppy. By choosing these flowers, you are working smarter instead of harder and saving hours of gardening stress.

Prioritize Plants Over Lawn Space

The design of your garden can also impact how much time you spend tending to it. Mowing the lawn will often require more hours than looking after flowers, since they will tend to look after themselves once planted. Therefore, it stands to reason that a larger flowerbed and smaller lawn will actually require less gardening. It also creates a more vibrant, wild and colorful aesthetic.

For where there is a lawn, consider investing in an automatic mower or simply laying down astroturf. This will allow you to have a larger grass area, without the same maintenance that a typical lawn requires. This will come down to whether you prefer a more natural look or are happy with some synthetic garden elements. Here you can check for the best riding lawn mowers.

The outdoor space of any home is valuable and you should ensure it is a pleasant area to hangout in with friends and family. However, for busy people this just means an extra chore to squeeze into your schedule. By using some of the hacks above, you can achieve the same results in less time, freeing up space for more exciting activities.