Warmer weather and sunny spring days are on the horizon, and many of us are thinking about preparing our outdoor living space for a spring garden. Gardening can be extremely rewarding, yielding opportunities to get out in the sunshine, spend some time outdoors, and enjoy the fruits of our labor. But some of us don’t enjoy the labor gardening entails all that much and would prefer a way to enjoy our gardens with a little less work. For all the lazy gardeners out there, we have some suggestions to cut down on the time and physical labor involved in preparing your spring garden and still end up with something you can be proud of.
Choose plants that are easy to grow. If you want fresh vegetables and you love salad, you’re in luck. Lettuce and other salad greens are some of the easiest vegetables to grow. Lettuce grows quickly, is easy to harvest by just cutting off the tops of the plants or plucking a few leaves as needed for your salad of the day. You can even grow these veggies in planters and partly shady areas, like under taller plants or at the base of a tree.
Tomatoes are probably one of the most popular garden vegetables and can also be grown successfully in containers or even hanging baskets if you’re short on room or just don’t want to dig around in the ground for your veggies. They do need lots of sun, and if you plant yours in pots or containers, you’ll need to provide some support for the stalks as they grow. Opting for smaller varieties such as cherry or grape tomatoes may be best for beginning gardeners. Pro tip: If you plant an aromatic herb such as basil next to your tomato plants, you’ll keep pests away and improve the flavor of the tomatoes. The bush variety of cucumbers are another great salad vegetable that’s easy to grow and have naturally good disease resistance.
Try pre-seeded mats for your flower garden. If you want to incorporate an abundance of flowers or some blossoms into your vegetable garden for beauty or companion planting, you might want to opt for some shady tree ring mats or sunny tree ring seed mats, depending on where you want to put your flowers. Place your seed mat in a cleared space, water, and start enjoying a vivid floral display. Most seeds will sprout within two weeks. If you want to attract butterflies to your garden, there’s even a butterfly-attracting flower seed mat. Each mat is five feet long and only requires watering. Easy peasy!
Similar to the seeded flower mats are seed stones. Seed stones are seeds mixed in a ball of clay that you simply place on soil with no crushing or planting needed. Just water them and sit back and watch them grow! If you have children who love to garden (or who need to just get outside for a little while) let them try their hand at a fairy flower garden or marigold garden (marigolds are great for keeping bugs off your veggies!) A personalized kid’s stepping stone can mark “their” spot in your garden and will help give them a sense of pride and accomplishment when they see their plants start to bloom.
Gardens are a great way to get outside and enjoy springtime, give the kids something healthy to do, and dress up your patio, front walkway, backyard, or outdoor deck. Following these easy tips will help cut down on the time and labor it takes to get a garden you can be proud of and enjoy all summer long.
