With the summer just around the corner many people are itching to get outside to enjoy the garden. Many of us, however, cringe at the thought of weekends wasted by mowing, trimming ,and weeding.
If you are one of those people, welcome to the club. We should spend time in our gardens basking in sunshine, drink in hand. Or maybe a little gentle sport like playing bowls or putting. Our gardens should be used for entertaining, or for our children to play in and not just as showpieces for our collection of plants. Some people obsess over their lawns almost as if their lives depended on keeping it moss free and the perfect green hue.
I hope you will find here, a few handy tips that will help you to achieve the ultimate in maintenance free gardening so your valuable leisure time can be put to a more satisfying use.
The Lawn
The biggest area of your garden will probably be the lawn. It is arguably the most demanding part of your garden too as it requires mowing every week in the summer along with edging, raking, and even weeding. Would you consider replacing your lawn with something a little easier to maintain? Let’s take a look at a few alternatives.
- Gravel. Thanks to the gardening makeover programs of the 1990’s, gravel is no longer only used for the driveways of the rich and famous. A large area of lawn can be replaced fairly economically and in a short time. Simply remove the turf using a turf cutter to save time and energy. Put down a weed resistant membrane and add at least two inches of gravel on top. Of course, it doesn’t have to be gravel as there are many other materials available such as stone chippings.
- Slabs. Laying slabs can be backbreaking work and needs a fair bit of preparation. Remove the turf and dig down four inches. Fill the void with a mix of hardcore and sand. Use a compactor to firm the ground. These can be hired for just a day, and they do an excellent job. Add another layer of sand before finally laying the slabs.
- Artificial Grass. The beauty of using artificial turf lies in its versatility. It can be laid permanently on soil once the real turf is removed, or it can be simply rolled out over slabs when needed. The modern materials mean you will never have a bald, muddy patch or have to mow again. It even comes in differing grass heights.
Flower Beds
How many days do you spend in the summer on your knees pulling weeds from your borders? Something needs to be done about this. Weed your borders one last time.
- Gravel. As with the gravel for the lawn, place a weed proof membrane down between the plants and then a layer of gravel. Water will still penetrate this layer so your plants will continue to grow happily.
- Wood Chippings. Place a thick layer of wood chippings in your borders to suppress weed growth for the whole season. This method is not perfect, and you may still have to pull the odd weed but that isn’t so bad.
You have now tackled the main jobs needed around the garden on a weekly basis. Go even further by adding an automatic watering system, that are cheap these days, for your borders and pots. There are imitation plans available that cannot be distinguished from the real thing. Your friends will be astounded when they see your perfect garden.
Have a lazy summer my friends.
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