Gardening is a great hobby. It’s healthy and relaxing. As a landscaping supply company in Northern VA, we enjoy it so much that we made it our business. But with the pace of today’s world however, we also understand that most don’t have a whole lot of time to enjoy their yards, let alone landscape them. When it comes to garden care, here are a few ways to have your cake and eat it too without a whole lot of effort.
Don’t Fight Nature
It might seem obvious, but some people are attached to certain plants that require a lot of fussing, to landscape arrangements that need constant attention, or to styles of gardening that can’t be “let go.” For instance, formal gardens are quite dramatic — but they require constant attention because overgrown roses and spent petunias just make it look messy.
By contrast, a cottage-style garden is just about as low maintenance as you can get, and many old-fashioned plants will even self-seed. You don’t even have to replant or divide.
Go for Details, Not Drama
Drama is exhausting. Not that we can’t enjoy it (especially in other people’s gardens) but drama means creating a larger-than-life effect, and it usually entails tying a number of details together. All that organizing means less time relaxing in your garden. So rather than creating one eye-catching scene, construct a series of small, detailed vignettes instead.
A fairy garden in an arrangement of pots, perhaps. A bird bath and a gazing pool tucked in a corner. Shady places to sit with a glass of lemonade here and there. Entice the visitor to slow down, and reward the keen-eyed observer with charming surprises. Best of all, these vignettes are best created a little at a time, reducing the sense that you are either “done” or “not done” with your landscaping.
Focus On Being Inviting
This seems to be something that fancy landscaping magazines often miss — flair and style is not the same as having a nice place for people to visit. Probably everyone has sat in a stylishly decorated living room and marveled silently at how uncomfortable the couch is.
Similarly, focusing on making your outdoor space inviting will suddenly make “design decisions” a whole lot easier. You’ll plan your entrance to be cheerful, welcoming and perhaps a little enticing. (There’s nothing like a gently curving pathway to make people want to see where it goes.) You’ll make sure that there are comfy places to sit, wherever there’s a good view. You might integrate fruit trees, berries, or grapes near the patio or deck for optimal munching.
Once you start to look for ways to make your outdoor space work for you, it’s amazing how easy it is. You’ll spend more time having fun and less time working, which is a win not just for you, but for your family.
