Finding Time to Garden
As people begin to find their days once again filled with commutes, work, and other obligations, it seems that our gardens have started to slide to the bottom of the priority list.
From the moment I returned to work in March, it’s been increasingly harder to find time to really give the garden my full attention. I’ve spent most of the season trying to find a routine that works for my new day to day life, and at times the garden seemed more like a burden than a peaceful place to escape.
So the question is,
How do you find the time to garden?
Predict Pesty Problems
Garden pests can ruin my day quick fast and in a hurry!
Somedays it feels like all I did was chase away squirrels, treat for aphids, and hunt down squash vine borers. So every year I try to find a new item to make my job a little bit easier. Try to gather everything you need for pest control in early spring, so it’s a quick fix when the time comes to use it.
With summertime finally here, now is the perfect opportunity to cultivate your garden. From planting various herbs to caring for vegetables, there are a lot of delicious crops to be harvested. While you may be looking forward to incorporating fresh produce into your meals, pests and animals can often wreak havoc on garden spaces devouring crops before they are done growing.
If you’re looking for ways to prevent animals from eating your garden and summertime produce, Redfin reached out to gardening experts across North America, from San Juan Capistrano, CA to Richmond, BC, including myself, to share our best tips for keeping your garden free from pests. Check out Make Gardening a Breeze: 6 Expert Tips to Prevent Animals From Eating Your Garden.
Prioritizing Plants
Low Maintenance plants are key when you are pressed for time. Whether your focused of veggies or flowers, both have some really great options that require less of your attention.
Veggies
Flowers
You can find information about some of my favorite easy/beginner gardener plants in a previous blog below.
Irrigation Station
Get started with irrigation as soon as possible.
Tools like timers and drip irrigation will be your best friend on days when you have far too much to do.
I’ve been using the company Drip Depot to figure out my drip irrigation this year. They have quick shipping and a variety of parts to fit all your watering needs.
If you’re watering by hand like myself, it’s helpful to make sure your watering can is always right next to your hose. Keeping everything together makes it easy to get the job done. You can even get a rain barrel like I did in my Brooklyn garden to have another easily accessible source of water.
Quick tip: Get 1 water can for every outdoor faucet, so you always have one nearby.
Morning vs Afternoon
Work the garden into your morning routine.
Take a walk through the garden on the way to your morning run. This will give you a quick moment to check for issues that need to be addressed, or noted for later.
Use weeding, hand watering, and pruning as your morning workout.
Set some time aside after work or after dinner to spend in your garden.
After work is a great time to do some light gardening, and clear your mind.
Decompress while arranging some of your freshly grown flowers.
Take out todays office aggression on the aphids attacking your veggies.
There are dozens of way to carve out time in the day to do something you love.
If gardening is something you’ve shied away from in the past due to a lack of free time, I challenge you to think about 30 minutes in your day that you could have used differently.
Has your garden slipped through your fingers this season?
How do you make sure to fit in some time in your garden?
Let me know in the comments below.
