A list of the gardening tips, techniques, and hacks that lessen the work of vegetable and flower growing so you can concentrate on the harvests and bouquets!
As a gardener, there are few things more cringe-worthy to me than watching a neighbor till up a patch of grass, add a bit of manure or compost, plant vegetables and water with an overhead sprinkler. Because I know what the next few months will bring, no matter how lovely that patch looks when you're finished - grass & weeds so thick you can barely see the vegetable plants.
Or to watch another neighbor constantly weeding a flower bed all season long. Actually, it may be when I drive by the same bed in August and September when the weeds have taken over because my poor neighbor just got tired of all that weeding.
If it's someone I know, I've been known to strike up a conversation to mention how we use paper and mulch after our first spring weeding so that we never have to weed like that again for the season. But it's a delicate balance, because I don't want to come off as a know-it-all, right?
Most weeding issues can be boiled down to this simple fact:
Disturbing the soil (till, turn, plant) brings dormant weed seeds to the surface, providing them with the sun they need and then watering and fertilizing them along with our plants.
Is it any wonder they grow thick? And in areas where there are lots of weed seeds blowing in the wind (rural & semi-rural areas especially), we've created some wonderful seed beds for them to germinate. A solution, then, is to cover the soil to attempt to stop the seeds from germinating and to water only the plants.
There are other things you can do, too, to make gardening easier and your outcome better, whether you grow vegetables, flowers, or both.
Over the years I've written extensively about how you CAN have an easy care garden by using a few simple and easy gardening tips and techniques - truly. So I've compiled them in this easy-to-access list that you can refer to whenever you need (TIP: pin the image at the end so you can find it easily).
Simple & Easy Gardening Tips & Techniques
Planting & Designing Your Garden (Vegetable & Flower Borders)
How to plant a garden the easy care way.
How to design an easy-to-care-for vegetable garden.
9 simple steps to your easiest garden ever.
8 easy steps to a new shrub & flower bed.
Grow Vegetables With Less Work
How to plant a vegetable bed the no-till way.
How to plant & grow a corn patch weed free.
How to plant & grow the best tomatoes.
Why & how to use row covers for broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower.
How to easily ripen tomatoes at the end of the season.
General Gardening Hacks
Easy organic weed control with paper & mulch (video).
5 easy steps to organic weed control.
5 awesome ways to save water & time in your garden.
The DIY garlic-mint insect spray that really works! Plus the garden bug spray video with more information.
7 tips for planting flower pots organically that thrive all season.
How to easily repair soaker hoses (video tutorial).
How to scare birds away from berries naturally.
How to safely use wood ashes in the garden.
Ultimate Vegetable Guides
Specific guides with tips and techniques to grow, harvest, preserve and cook with the following fruits and vegetables:
So - go forth and garden the easy way! And I hope if you have any tips to add that you'll share them in the comments, on AOC's Facebook Page, or use #anoregoncottage when sharing garden tips on Instagram or Twitter.
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