Gardening tips for those who hate gardening but love gardens

I definitely took after my mum when it comes to gardening. She hated gardening although had no choice but to do it herself (until we were old enough to let loose with edging shears and lawn mower).  She also paid for a garden to come in and do basic things as well as having her garden landscaped into an easy to care for space.  I’m not a fan of gardening either – my paternal grandfather was a gardener and had an amazing garden, so I’m not sure where his skills disappeared to.

But I do appreciate a lovely garden, mostly for the photography opportunities with flowers and gorgeous spaces. But also the enjoyment of spending time sitting out and relaxing in the summer. Or eating outside.

The OH doesn’t share my enthusiasm for eating outside, because he’s always the one who wasps go to, and he doesn’t react well to being bitten or stung. So we rarely sit outside to eat.

Our garden is still like a paddock. It has a great view over the fields behind, and is south facing, but we’ve done nothing with it.  It’s gets the lawn cut over the summer months, the climbing frame is leaning and dangerous, and the trampoline flew away a few years ago.  It really is still a blank space.

My in laws like doing their garden and I think they frown on my lack of interest.  Geraniums were planted around the side of our house on a patch of soil but it’s so dry, they removed them one winter to put inside and eventually got sick of planting them again. So we’ve got some little rose bushes there which didn’t come out last year, and wild cloves that have taken over. The soil is just terrible, we may as well rockery it over. It’s a pointless space.

In an ideal world I’d have someone come in, redesign the garden – or at least dig in some borders and add some raised vegetable beds so I don’t have to scrap around with grow bags and trying to keep the dogs off.

Gardening tips for those who don’t enjoy gardening

1, Use mood boards

Get excited by planning your garden. Use Pinterest, magazines, tv shows or visit gardens for advice and pictures

2, Outsource your gardening

Get someone in to do the bits you really hate or struggle with. Try your local gardener on a bike right up to full on landscape designer depending on need and budget.

3, Use grow bags for veg

Veg and fruit are quite exciting to grow. Choose easy grow options, try 1 type a year, and use grow bags if you’ve not got any beds. They work really well and you can move the bags to where it’s a good spot in the garden.

4, Use perennials

Choose flowers that will come up year after year rather than annuals which need to be planted each year.  Also avoid anything that isn’t hardy and needs to be taken into greenhouses for the winter (unless you have a greenhouse and they’re in tubs so easily moveable).

5, For easy growing, use wildflower or children’s mixed seeds

I love these for easy effort (and usually flowers that return each year).  It doesn’t take long for them to grow, using a mix means different flowers come up at different times of the growing season, and they tend to be quite hardy flowers. 

6, Plant for through the season

You want to have flowers in bloom through the Spring to Autumn and longer, so make sure you’ve got different seasonal flowers.

7, Get the children involved

No-brainer – teach the children and they’ll do it for you (although probably make a right mess in the meantime).  Growing veg is good fun for children to eat what they’ve grown.

Now over to other bloggers who are more of a gardener than me. Here’s their tips for making gardening easier (and hopefully more fun).

Jo from A Rose Tinted World suggests you ask your neighbours what grows well in their garden. Sometimes the different soil and light patterns can really affect what thrives and what dies. Your garden is quite likely to be similar soil type and get the same light as theirs, so they may be able to give you more tips. Plus it’s always nice to chat to your neighbour! 

Emma from Emma Reed says research the plants that will either be evergreen or perennial. You don’t want to be wasting your money on seasonal flowers each year and evergreens are far easier to maintain. 

Eva from Captain Bobcat takes it easy, advising people buy those guerilla gardening bombs from Seedbom or similar. They are filled with mixed flower seed, so you literally have to add water, shake and throw 

Josie from Business for Mums reckons you should try to do a tiny bit of weeding every day, if it builds up too much I’ll just give up!

Debbie from My Boys Club suggests getting thrifty and trying to grow things you actually like to eat as well as fruit and vegetables that are expensive in shops – it will give you more motivation. 

Gemma from Mummy’s Waisted recommends Buying the ready planted hanging baskets / containers especially those with bulbs that will flower multiple times. Also start off with win-win options like sprinkling wild flower seeds over a patch of earth or growing carrots or radishes, these are super easy plus quick to grow.

So, it seems maybe gardening might not be so difficult, there are some easy short cuts to be had. But some work does need to be done to maintain them.  Hopefully I’ll encourage N to help me out and we’ll have something pretty in the garden rather than just grass and a wonky climbing frame.

Are you a fan of gardening? What tips do you have to make it easier to do?

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