When it comes to gardening, I'm not really the biggest fan. I don't like the dirt, the bugs and the mess but it's something that just has to be done. We're lucky in the sense that our front garden is quite low-maintenance. With a partially-block-paved driveway and a few shrubs to cut down, it's not really as much as a chore as keeping our back garden ship shape. This is made even more difficult as we're wanting to cut our water-usage down. Our region isn't currently undergoing a hosepipe ban, but it's not off the cards just yet, so we're looking to conserve as much as possible, as are many people we know.
The back garden is a hotch-potch of lots of different plants, shrubs and bushes. Where some of them look pretty cool, are high in value or are easy to maintain, others are boring, half dead or just clinging onto dear life, purely because they haven't really been looked after by the previous owners of our house. So we went round and purged a few things. A couple of bushes have been taken out, an entire 10 foot fir tree has been taken out of the front garden, we've had to cut some bushes right back, like our bay tree and others just needed a good pruning.
The back garden really isn't how we'd like it and the front garden will do, for now, until we can get someone in to do us a new driveway. But keeping garden clean and tidy, ready for the next season, is a hard, time-consuming task when you work full-time and have a house to renovate. So how do I do it in a way that doesn't take lots of time and effort? Let me share some of my tips and methods with you :)
I go out once a month and prune the bushes
Like with most people, we have a few shrubs, bushes and even a hedge at the front of the house that needs to be kept under control. It can be easy to let them grow because you don't have the time or you can't be bothered to sort that this weekend, but there comes a time where they grow so out of control you're drafting in other people to help OR, before you know it, you're up a step ladder with a pair of shears.
I like to keep on top of their growth. I won't trim them right down, I'll just shape them. A lot of them are rounded and a couple are pretty square so it's quite easy and straightforward to keep this up over the spring and summer months when they really start to grow wild.
It saves a bigger, more time-consuming job further down the line so it's worth going out every so often and just cutting the extra growth off. This also keeps it a manageable size and you might even find your neighbours thank you for it as well.
I keep a few plants in pots
This might sound simple and not at all like a maintenance tip but it really does help in terms of the time it takes to look after them. If you plant them in the ground, not only do you have to watch out for bugs, but also weeds. Some weeds can choke a plant, as can other plants that are more established.
If your plants are in a pot, you'll only have to watch out for a small amount of weed growth, treat the leaves and vegetation so that bugs don't go-a-munching on them and keep them well-watered, depending on what it is. Keeping plants in pots also helps to ensure they don't grow out of control in the garden.
We have a camellia and a hydrangea in a pot and they can grow to extraordinary heights. Keeping them in a pot will help to keep them a decent size but not ridiculous where to the point where you can no longer see out of your windows.
Plant pots can also be easily moved, so if your plant needs more sun in the winter, you can move it to a sunnier spot or, if it needs shade in blistering heat, you can move it into the shadier part of your garden - simple.
I'll use a jet wash
Any normal time, I'd use a jet wash to get weeds out of the patio or driveway and to just clean up areas of the garden, like the slabs and decking etc, that haven't fared well over the winter. But what with a hosepipe ban looming and the plea from water companies to conserve water, we have decided against the use of a jet wash until we've been told to resume business as usual. But if this was a normal summer without a hosepipe ban on the horizon, I'd get my jet wash out to keep the garden clean and to keep weeds and grass out of nooks and crannies.
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post? What do you like to do to keep your garden neat and tidy? Let me know in the comments below and I'll see you again very soon with a brand new blog post!
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