Growing Nicely

gardening, sustainability, growing food, plants and flowers.

  • Home
  • About
  • Garden Writing
  • Garden Services
    • A Garden Consultation to Reveal the Beauty of your Garden.
  • The Blog
    • Sustainable Gardening
    • Growing Food
    • Gardening & Plants
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Visits
  • Contact Me

Gardening: minimum effort – maximum effect

June 27, 2013 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

 

Summer is such a lovely time of year and it’s nice to spend as much time in the garden as possible, though preferably relaxing rather than doing garden chores. 

www.andersonlandscapedesign.co.uk/blog

Have you had the experience of sitting in your garden, cup of tea in hand, trying to relax when you can spy things out of the corner of your eye that need to be done.

I’ve learnt over the years that the best solution is to organise your garden so that it looks great but needs as little work as possible, minimum effort – maximum effect.

Of course a bit of time needs to be spent setting this up, remember you’re playing a long game here, but the rewards will be there. 

Here are three things guaranteed to help you on the way:

1. Make compost from kitchen waste and non-weed garden debris, spread it thickly on the borders in spring and autumn.

  • It will help to suppress weeds leaving all the nutrients for the plants that you do want to feed.
  • Keep moisture in the soil for plants to take up so they’ll be stronger and healthier.

www.andersonlandscapedesign.co.uk/blog

2. Avoid using chemicals 

  • You’ll attract plenty of beneficial birds and insects into your garden and they’ll feast on all the bad pests like aphids.
  • Plants will be healthier which means that they fight off diseases, there’s more information about this here.

3. Reduce the amount of grass in your garden:

Lawns are very time consuming, they use up lots of energy and need to be cut every week for most of the year, whilst a border just needs weeding and tidying every few weeks… see number 1 above.

Enjoy your garden

and do sign up for my newsletter to get regular helpful garden advice.

Jill

all images by Jill Anderson

 

 

Related posts:

Lawns: The good, the bad but never ugly. Some helpful tips when you’re shopping for plants The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013 – inspiring gardens Friday inspiration – a perfect plant to attract birds & bees into your garden.

Related posts:

Lawns: The good, the bad but never ugly. Some helpful tips when you’re shopping for plants The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013 – inspiring gardens Friday inspiration – a perfect plant to attract birds & bees into your garden.
Filed Under: Blog, Plants, Recycling & Sustainability Tagged With: compost bin, grass, Lawns

Never Miss A Post

Subscribe for updates to be delivered straight to your inbox.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

plants-gardens-growing-eating

Jill-profile image

Hello, I’m Jill Anderson.
This is where you’ll find good, solid information about gardening, growing fruit & vegetables and how to keep it all looking good.
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
The healing, calming power of nature in one photo. The healing, calming power of nature in one photo.
These wonderful autumn colours won’t be around for much longer. But that’s ok, because now is what matters, & their fleeting beauty makes them even more precious.
It’s easy to see how being among trees & nature is so beneficial for our health & wellbeing. 
Have a great Sunday.
Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it lo Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it look spectacular with this bold front door.
Today has been hard work, after a lovely time last week in Norfolk. The north coast there is spectacular. Realising these last few months, that there are so many beautiful places here. 
Have a nice evening.
Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Vis Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Visiting to see the Anish Kapoor sculptures, which are amazing, but unprepared for the beauty of the grounds & garden. 
Such a treat, worth coming to Norfolk for this alone!
Hope you’re keeping well, & managing to smile some of the time. x
P.S. more of Houghton Hall & Anish Kapoor on my stories
We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberrie We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberries, after coffee & cake, sitting in the churchyard - the cafe was full, & the churchyard is a quiet, peaceful spot..... as you’d expect.
-
One little advantage of lockdown is walking so much more, rather than using the car. Though it shouldn’t have taken something as momentous as this, for me to change bad habits 🙁
Hope you’re weekend is going well.
My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from a random clump of hazel on the garden. Now looking much better covered in winter squash plants, so you can’t see just how ramshackle it is. I like to think it has a certain home-spun charm .

Great for small space gardening, imagine how much room you need to grow these without vertical supports.

I’ve got 2 Uchiki kuri, lovely nutty flavour.
1 Turks turban, for its flamboyant shape & colours, though it also tastes good.
One unknown, grown by my grandsons in their homeschooled science lesson.
Close-ups of the squash over on my stories.
Stay cool my friends x
I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium reg I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium regale) which is flowering right outside our bedroom window. 
It gets sun for about 4 hours only, you can order the bulbs now for planting in September. It’ll reappear every year & waft delicious scent around your garden, or through your windows.
Have a very happy Monday x
It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be said for fabulous seasonal flowers that haven’t travelled thousands of miles ...... & are wonderful for biodiversity
A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-s A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-summer!) & it’s, mostly, all growing nicely.

Spinach, courgettes & garlic in shot here. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday x
Hope is a decision I’ve thought long & hard abou Hope is a decision
I’ve thought long & hard about how to view the tumult in the world we’re living in now. 
The only thing that works for me, is to choose hope.

It’s a tall order, but avoiding mainstream news & speculation helps avoid the anxiety, that’s often waiting in the wings.

One day soon there’ll be grandchildren clambering over this again.
Follow on Instagram

Don't miss any posts!

Enter your email address and receive notifications of new posts.

Archive

Copyright © 2021 Growing Nicely | Privacy Policy

Please note this website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent for cookies to be used. For further information on use of cookies please refer to our privacy policy Find out more.