Simplify: Save Time, Save Money, Defy Age! Low Maintenance Yards and Gardens
Article written by Janet Macunovich and Steven Nikkila
Start from a basis in reality
How many hours a week is "low" for you? (No such thing as no maintenance.)
Everything needs more than average time in spring, less in summer. Find a once-a-year helper or cut deals with family and friends. Barter! Choose four types of work you like: ground covers if you're not a weeder; compact, shrubby plants if you're not a staker.
- Lawn requires 8 minutes work per month per 100 square feet.
- Trees, shrubs, ground cover requires 10-12 minutes of work per month per 100 square feet.
- Annual flowers require 15-20 minutes of work per month per 100 square feet.
Everything needs more than average time in spring, less in summer. Find a once-a-year helper or cut deals with family and friends. Barter! Choose four types of work you like: ground covers if you're not a weeder; compact, shrubby plants if you're not a staker.
About Money...
If "time is money" applies to you, many savings here! 100 sq. ft. of perennials, annual: 200-280 labor, 130-190 in plants and materials. Cheap labor can be costly in unexpected ways. Hire smarter, not cheaper. Power tools may save time but often do not and there are hidden costs.
Time saving materials and equipment
Root barriers: fertilize less and slow (slow-release). Soil test, then stick to one fertilizer.
Staking kits: watering systems, such as leaky buckets and hose connection stations. Also polymers.
A simple, standard kit of tools: good wheelbarrow, 5-gallon bucket, small tarp, weeder, trowel, pruners, folding saw, spade, fork, rake, tarp.
Seriously raised beds.
Staking kits: watering systems, such as leaky buckets and hose connection stations. Also polymers.
A simple, standard kit of tools: good wheelbarrow, 5-gallon bucket, small tarp, weeder, trowel, pruners, folding saw, spade, fork, rake, tarp.
Seriously raised beds.
Design for low-maintenance:
Better "bones," wider paths and build-in maintenance paths. Fewer edges. Check at the outset to be sure they're mow-able. Make more of easy-care species, discard high care. DO more with shrubs, ground cover (+bulbs). If it works, mass it! Use long-lived clumping species to thrive, not just survive on your site.
Know about your soil --dig some holes, do a drainage test. Use plants that will mature at the size you desire, so they are no-prune. Design with higher contrast in plant combos, so weeds can't hide. Place highest-maintenance areas closest to your eye and seat.
Know about your soil --dig some holes, do a drainage test. Use plants that will mature at the size you desire, so they are no-prune. Design with higher contrast in plant combos, so weeds can't hide. Place highest-maintenance areas closest to your eye and seat.
Then work smart --most net savings by all measuring sticks:
Start earlier in spring, work later in fall. Every hour then saves 2-3 in summer. Bundle then cut. Use twigs as stakes , might even place them in fall. Buy plants and have materials delivered only when, and where, you need them. Dispense with non-essential tasks:prune harder, less often; stop spraying. Do it when you think of it --don't be ruled by "garden calendars!"
Prune more in the off season, less while shrubs and trees and growing. Restrain the urge for constant change and novelty. Establish several mini-compost sites around the yard, and sheet-compost there. Prune perennials harder, more often. Throw out stickies, disappointments, invasive! Cut less in fall and as a beds evolve; allow Nature to help and the fittest take over.
Define your goals for the day and stick to them. Walk and look before you work. Work in one-hour segments, starting in high-viability, fun-areas. Plant small and water small, Water early in the season for less water overall. Mulch! Start with clean beds. Smoother weedy areas. Recycle all clippings as mulch. Use what you grow: Vegetables, wood, yard waste...
Prune more in the off season, less while shrubs and trees and growing. Restrain the urge for constant change and novelty. Establish several mini-compost sites around the yard, and sheet-compost there. Prune perennials harder, more often. Throw out stickies, disappointments, invasive! Cut less in fall and as a beds evolve; allow Nature to help and the fittest take over.
Define your goals for the day and stick to them. Walk and look before you work. Work in one-hour segments, starting in high-viability, fun-areas. Plant small and water small, Water early in the season for less water overall. Mulch! Start with clean beds. Smoother weedy areas. Recycle all clippings as mulch. Use what you grow: Vegetables, wood, yard waste...
Gardening healthy is smart, and also saves time and money
Gardening gives us:
Move like a pro, avoid the muscle strain. Keep your back from aching: bend your knees! Use a cart. Use more of your body -especially your legs. Move smooth, don't jerk. Be "The Graceful Gardener." Choose tools that fit the job, your size and ability.
Protect your arms, wrists and hands: learn the neutral position for wrists and thumb, in line with arm. Hug-carry, don't pinch-carry. Stab and draw with the trowel, don't burrow and lift. Vary your motions: change which hand and which foot you use.
- Greater strength and flexibility, increased cardiovascular fitness
- Stress reduction
- Better overall health
- We use 340 calories/ hour (150 lb person)... = 1 hour of low impact aerobics!
- Sharp tools literally cut the work. Buy a honing stone and file. Tools that fit your hand and height. Gloves and boots,
- Fiberglass wheelbarrow
- Knee pads --portable or built in --spread the weight, save the knee.
- Padded, lightweight and rotating handles.
- Ergonomically designed tools to keep wrist and thumb in line.
Move like a pro, avoid the muscle strain. Keep your back from aching: bend your knees! Use a cart. Use more of your body -especially your legs. Move smooth, don't jerk. Be "The Graceful Gardener." Choose tools that fit the job, your size and ability.
Protect your arms, wrists and hands: learn the neutral position for wrists and thumb, in line with arm. Hug-carry, don't pinch-carry. Stab and draw with the trowel, don't burrow and lift. Vary your motions: change which hand and which foot you use.
