Top Tips for the Gardening

1. Native Plant Benefits
   Plant regional, native plants as much as possible. These are used to the environment and are less troublesome than many imports.

1. Manageable Garden

   PlanningCreate only the garden you can handle. Decide how much time you have to spend; this will help with your plant selection.

2. Seasonal Garden Strategy

   Plant for as many seasons as you can. Think spring bulbs, summer blooms, fall colors, and winter interests. If you plan it right, you can dig once and plant 3 different seasons in one hole!

3. Leaf color

   Don’t forget the leaf color. Some of the best gardens have few blooms, but amazing leaf color and structure. This saves on pinching or removing faded blooms.

4. Reduce your lawn as much as you can. The less lawn, the less reliance on chemicals (and less mowing).

5. Mulch

   Bark mulches are great for keeping plants cooler and moist (less or no watering), and reducing weeds. They also look good. (Avoid rocks except where specific drainage might recommend it).

6. Odd number

   Plant in odd numbers. I love groups of three; these are more pleasing to the eye and create continuity. Three Serviceberry trees, seven Karl Foerster grasses (below), etc. Since they’re the same variety, they’ll have the same needs, making maintenance easier.

7. Managing the time for garden

   During the growing season, spend a few minutes every day doing something in the garden. It can be as simple as removing a few weeds to pinching the mums. This reduces the amount of labor time over the weekend and gives you a few minutes to relax outside.

8. Compost made easy

   Dig a hole somewhere in the garden and fill it with compost. When it’s full, move on to another spot and dig a hole. You don’t need a fancy composter, just a shovel. It will improve the soil, save some food from the dump, and is quick.