{"id":11389,"date":"2020-04-05T03:44:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T17:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardens.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/?p=11389"},"modified":"2025-10-30T21:14:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T11:14:27","slug":"7-gardening-shortcuts-to-save-you-time-and-money-in-the-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/2020\/04\/05\/7-gardening-shortcuts-to-save-you-time-and-money-in-the-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Gardening Shortcuts to Save You Time and Money in the Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is no getting around the fact that growing a garden takes time and a small investment. Millions of people love their gardens but wish they weren’t quite so demanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many more want to start their own gardens but simply don\u2019t have the time. They work long hours, look after young children, or just have a busy schedule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Millions
Millions of people love their gardens but wish they weren’t quite so demanding. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gardening Shortcuts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But you can labor less, work more efficiently, and maybe even spend less money on your garden with a few smart gardening shortcuts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below\nare seven gardening shortcuts that will mean less work and more time for you to\nenjoy your garden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Start with good soil.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Work\nin compost, manure, or dried peat moss for a nutrient-rich planting medium. Properly\namended soil is lighter, drains better, makes weeding easy, and allows roots to\nestablish themselves more quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Properly
Properly amended soil is lighter, drains better, makes weeding easy, and allows roots to establish themselves more quickly. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Grow easy crops.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Try growing crops that are naturally low-maintenance for your region. These likely include onions from bulbs or young plants, summer squash, and zucchini. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy\nimproved varieties of plants that are native to your region. They\u2019ll thrive\nwith very little maintenance and are likely to be the best-yielding vegetables\nin your backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Try
Try growing crops that are naturally low-maintenance for your region. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3. Group your plants.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Grow\nvegetables that enjoy similar growing conditions together. This makes caring\nfor them easier. For example, planting your cabbage family plants in the same\nbed lessens the work involved in protecting them against common pests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\ncan also try grouping lettuces and other leafy salad greens together to minimize\nthe time needed for watering. Grouping such plants together will also make\nsetting up a shade cloth easier in hot weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Grow
Grow vegetables that enjoy similar growing conditions together. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Work smarter. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Make sure your tools are clean and sharp. They will last longer and work better in the garden. Well-maintained tools<\/a> also mean you will not need to spend money purchasing replacements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use\nergonomically designed tools, kneepads, or kneeling mats to lessen stress on\nyour joints. Working comfortably allows faster and more efficient work in the\ngarden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Make
Make sure your tools are clean and sharp. (Photo: Pleuntje\/Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

5. Use potting soil sacks. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can turn sacks of potting soil into instant beds for shallow-rooted crops such as salads, bush beans, and onions. They also suppress any weeds beneath them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of\ncourse, you\u2019ll need to cut slits into the bottom of the sack for drainage. Once\nyou\u2019ve done that, set the sack on the ground and cut away the plastic from the\ntop. Now you have a ready-made bed with an excellent growing medium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the growing season ends, you can re-use the soil at the bottom of the container or cut away the plastic to make a permanent bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"You
You can turn sacks of potting soil into instant beds for shallow-rooted crops. (Photo: Lizard10979\/Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

6. Make your container garden low-maintenance.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mulch containers with gravel or shredded bark to reduce evaporation and reduce the time you spend watering. You should also consider using large containers with a soil-based potting mix. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the medium in these containers dries out more slowly than those in smaller containers, you won\u2019t need to water your plants as much. Group them together for easier watering and pest control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re going away on vacation, sink the containers into the ground. Water your plants and the surrounding soil thoroughly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll find that your container vegetables will cope better than those in above-ground containers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Group
Group your containers together for easier watering and pest control.
(Photo: Daryl Mitchell\/Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

7. Reduce your lawn.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Consider\nlimiting grassy areas in your garden to reduce the time you spend on lawn\nchores and maintenance. In the process, you\u2019ll help the global movement to heal\nthe environment by using less water and chemicals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, build a pond or patio in the center of your lawn. You’ll create a destination and add visual interest in your garden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also combine trees, boulders, shrubs, rocks, and other decorative mulches to create attention-grabbing, maintenance-free island beds in your front and back yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Consider
Consider limiting grassy areas in your garden to reduce the time you spend on lawn chores and maintenance. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Weeding\nout the unnecessary work.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gardening\nwill always entail work. In many ways, the digging, weeding, and watering\nneeded to grow a garden are the very things that make gardening so enjoyable.\nBut then we don\u2019t always have the luxury of time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nyou can weed-out a good deal of unnecessary time and effort in your garden just\nby working smarter. If you love your garden \u2013 or want to start a garden – but\ndon\u2019t have time for gardening, then the shortcuts above should help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You can labor less, work more efficiently, and maybe even spend less money on your garden with a few smart gardening shortcuts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13557,"featured_media":11396,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Discover 7 genius gardening shortcuts that slash your workload and costs. Get a thriving garden with less effort\u2014these time-savers are game-changers!","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sma_last_campaign_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,99,182,24],"tags":[5,82,51,209],"class_list":["post-11389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compost-and-soils","category-lawn-care","category-tips-and-tricks","category-vegetables","tag-easy-gardening","tag-easy-to-grow-vegetables","tag-gardening","tag-gardening-tips"],"modified_by":"Freddie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}