Garden Smarter, Not Harder
by Georgiann Eccleston
We all have lots of garden tasks and some require real digging, planting, major pruning, etc. However, in between the hard work is the less-hard-but-always-needed work of maintaining our flower or vegetable beds. Maintenance is the everyday work that can be a pleasure (“And into the garden I go, to lose my mind and find my soul”) or pain (Yikes! Everywhere I look there are weeds and I need to deadhead and I need to trim and I need to…”). Here are some hints to help bring the pleasure back into your gardening.
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Choose your time: Working in the early morning has two benefits: it's usually cooler then, and the ground may still be a bit soft from dew. The very best time to pull weeds is the day after a nice rain: the ground will be soft and you're more likely to get all the roots.
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Choose your timing: 15-20 minutes in the garden has very visible results! You'll probably get several feet of a bed cleared of weeds and if you spend 15 minutes each day, in a week you could have a full bed manicured!
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Use a chair: Try a folding camp chair, sometimes called a "director's chair", when working in garden beds. It's lightweight and the seat & back are made from cloth. You can probably reach most of what you need to do while sitting and when you have to stand to reach something, the chair is there for you to sit on again when needed.
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Use a discard box: Try using a cardboard box that’s about 9”L X 13”W X 14”H (from the grocery store). Put a kitchen-trash sized plastic bag in it, all the way to the bottom and turn the excess plastic bag down, over the outside of the box. That holds the flaps in place and you can really fill the box up! As you weed/deadhead/prune, throw whatever you've cut or pulled into the box and, at the end, you can just close up the bag and throw it away (you don’t want to compost weeds anyway)... no going back to pick up waste! And the box is ready for a new trash bag.
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Use the right tool: When you have established beds and plants, you may not have a lot of room to work between the plants so it’s worthwhile to invest in hand tools. Using the right tool makes the job easier and doesn’t make you move your fingers/wrists/elbows… all those parts that can hurt when you overwork them… in ways they weren’t meant to! Here are some examples (we’re not promoting these businesses or brands… just sharing examples to give you some ideas about what’s out there!).
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Cultivator or hand rake will be easier and more effective than a regular leaf or shrub rake. It can be used to loosen mulch & topsoil and will help you to “scratch out” weeds that are rooted close to the surface: ​
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A weed puller will help you to get all the roots out on larger, rooted weeds. You push it into the ground next to the weed and pry the root out of the ground:​
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Bypass shears (not anvil shears) are most effective for trimming shrubs & perennials. Leave the loppers in your garage to be used when you have a substantial branch that needs cutting! ​
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Snips are a big win for deadheading and trimming. They are small and can get into tight spaces, they don’t require a lot of pressure to close and when you open your hand, they open, too, and are ready for the next snip.​
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Here’s another list of our favorite tools.​
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Be good to yourself: The right clothing really does make a difference!
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Wear a large-brimmed hat that sits low on your head and has a drawstring so it won’t blow away in the wind. It keeps insects out of your hair and sun off your face and hair (yes, your hair can get sunburned!).
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Even if it’s a bit warm, wear a long-sleeved shirt so that your arms are protected from insects, the sun and small scrapes.
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Wear pants that cover your legs for the same reasons.
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Closed-toe shoes keep out pebbles, mulch, spiders and ants. And they can protect your toes from a dropped tool.
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Wear gloves as much as possible and if you’re going to be working with thorny plants, invest in rose gloves to protect yourself (plus they look pretty cool!)​
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Entertain yourself: If you’re planning a long working-visit in the garden, listening to music or an audiobook while you work can make the time pass quickly. You may find yourself dancing with the daisies, LOL!
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Prepare to find your soul: If you know you'll be working in a specific area of your yard the next day, get everything you need (chair, discard box, tools, gloves, etc.) close to that area so set up is just a couple of minutes and you’re spending your time gardening, not moving equipment.
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Enjoy! We hope that your garden brings you joy and that our hints for making it easier to work in will make it even more joyful!
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I googled my symptoms...turns out I just need to be surrounded by nature.
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