Some time-saving tips for the busy gardener

SPRING gardening inevitably begins with hours of digging, mowing, watering and weeding, but HANNAH STEPHENSON has five ideas to give you a head start on maintaining your garden...

Use permanent planting in containers:

Plant containers with evergreens, shrubs or perennials that come back year after year, to save time having to replant annuals with every change of season.

Lavender is a stalwart, or patio roses, which are low-maintenance with a long flowering season. Planted in a big container, they can stay there for several years.

Consider automatic irrigation: This will save you hours in summer. You can have seep hoses in

borders and subtle irrigation systems to maintain patio plants.

It may involve some effort initially, but it will be worth the effort. Some systems have sensors in the soil, which assess how dry it is and adjust watering accordingly.

Stop weeds before they start: Save hours of weeding by spreading a thick mulch over beds and borders, which not only suppresses weeds but helps retain moisture. Mulches should be applied annually and be at least 5cm (2in) thick to be effective. If you’re a busy gardener, a thicker mulch of 7.5cm of bark chippings should last up to three years. It can be applied any time, but it’s better to mulch in late spring before weeds emerge, when soil is moist and warm.

Create no-dig vegetable beds: Make a no-dig raised bed, pictured above, with room to walk in-between.

The soil won’t become compacted as no-one walks on it, negating the need to dig. Make each bed between 1-1.5m wide, so you can reach to the centre from the path.

The depth depends on which crops you grow, deeper for root vegetables, while shallow-rooted crops such as lettuces will thrive in shallower beds.

Go for a natural lawn: Keeping a lawn pristine can be timeconsuming, so, go for something that will take up less time. A clover lawn will need much less maintenance than grass, needs no feeding and only has to be mown once to remove dead flowerheads. It’s also a magnet for bees.

Alternatively, go for a herb lawn with a mixture of creeping thymes or non-flowering chamomile, although these won’t stand hard wear, so you may need to cut a path if you’re going to walk through it regularly.