Garden tools for the low maintenance gardener
Tools for easy living
When we speak of a low maintenance garden, we mean a garden area that can go at least a week without your having to tend to it. The plants in a low maintenance garden should be long-lived and not in need of replacing every year; they should not need frequent pruning, division, fertilizing or watering; they should not grow to disproportional size. They should also be hearty and reliable, even under less-than-ideal conditions, and should not be prone to diseases and pests. And since you want a garden you can enjoy the whole year round, they need to be attractive even when the glory of their main bloom is over.
Sound like the thing for you? Well, to get started you will need to do some minimal investing to ensure that your garden grows and stays low maintenance.
The first thing you should get is a book or two about landscaping and gardening, particularly landscaping and gardening in your region. These will help you plan out your low maintenance garden. Then:
- List your needs: what do you want the purpose of your garden area to be?
- Assess your area: make a rough map of your soon-to-be garden area—what plants and structures are already in place.
- Choose easy to care for plants: perennials that are native to your region will grow best year after year and require the least tending.
If you have lawn in your garden area, you will need a mower. A lawn is not low maintenance and there are alternatives to grass which require less time, such as clover, and moss. But if you do need to have a traditional lawn, make it as small as possible, so that all you need is a push mower or small powered one. For the least maintenance, you should consider paving a patio area or at least laying down tile or brick walkways to reduce the mowing surface area.
Now, just because your garden is low maintenance does not mean it is no maintenance. Your plants, a few times a season, may require pruning. Most plants, however, in a low maintenance garden will be small and easy to prune. That means the only tool you will need is a small pruning shears, or even a sturdy set of kitchen shears.
If you are planning to plant a lot of bulbs, you may want to invest in a bulb planter. This tool does the work to easily dig a perfect hole for your bulbs. It is inexpensive and available at just about any gardening or home store.
Otherwise, for digging and planting all you need is a sturdy spade, or small shovel.
If you’ve got a vegetable garden, you are going to want to protect it from hungry animals with a fence. Usually posts and chicken wire will do; just make sure the chicken wire goes down far enough to deter diggers. To get the posts down, you may need use of a small sledge hammer or large mallet.
Once or twice a season, especially after a strong storm, you may need to get rid of some fallen branches. Instead of calling someone to haul them away, consider renting a wood chipper. You can use the chips on top of newspaper or cardboard as natural-looking, weed-blocking material for your pathways or for underneath shrubs. This will save loads of time later down the road.
Of course, there are a couple of basic gardening tools you should have no matter how little time you plan on spending tending. Invest in a good pair of gardening gloves. Thorns and sharp sticks can be frustrating and painful, and can get you when you least expect it. Gloves are basic protection. Also, a good set of knee pads may save you a lot of joint ache after just a short while.