Gardening can be a real joy to many. Whether it’s tending a flower garden or trying to grow the year’s veggies, being out in the sunshine, getting your hands in the dirt, and reaping the fruits of your labor can be a wonderful thing on many levels.
That said, depending on how you approach this task, gardening can be backbreaking work and cost you a few bob at the same time.
Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case. There are a bunch of cheap and cheerful ways to make gardening a much more enjoyable experience for those who either don’t quite love it yet, or who find themselves at a place in their lives where it has become more difficult for whatever reason.
Check out these OGP articles that give tons of tips and ideas on making gardening a much more enjoyable and accessible activity for all.
1. Plant Markers
Plant markers can be a lifesaver, especially if you are new to gardening or you have planted so much this year that you can’t remember what you planted where. If you buy plants from nurseries, they often come with a little plant marker that tells you all kinds of useful stuff. You can simply push this marker into the soil beside your plant for reference any time you need it. But, if you have raised all your plants from seeds, then you might need some help in remembering what’s what. These ideas for plant markers come in all different forms, functions, and longevity needs. Get some great ideas for DIY Plant Markers For Your Garden, Plant Pots, and Seedlings.
2. Gardening is Fun
Growing food at home is extraordinarily rewarding, particularly when the level of production starts to reduce supermarket bills and provide an overabundance of our favorite vegetables. Nothing is quite so enticing as the notion of “free” food, and this alone is often exciting enough to make gardening worthwhile. However, creating a garden that puts out a massive harvest can take time, cause a bit of frustration, and, especially at first, require a lot of work. In other words, it isn’t always (or all) fun and games. Accounting for labor and resources, the food produced in a garden is hardly free, though it is much less expensive than buying it from the market. If you need a bit of inspiration, check out these 6 Ways to Make Gardening More Fun.
3. Fix Up Your Tools
During the downtime of winter, one great task that you can do is to get all of your gardening tools whipped into shape for the spring to come. Starting a new season with sharp and shiny tools is so uplifting and can result in several benefits. Though technically we all ought to have been maintaining our tools through the summer, let’s be honest, we aren’t always on top of everything all the time. So, let yourself off the hook, get out those tools, and make them as good as new for the new year. If you take care of your tools, they’ll take care of you and your garden. Here are some great tips to Get Your Gardening Tools in Great Shape for Spring.
4. Gardening Made Easy
Let’s not pretend that gardening can’t be backbreaking work that comes with all kinds of frustration and disappointments, too. Not to discourage anyone, but when materials become expensive, you find yourself drowning in weeds, and critters are destroying your seedlings, things can become overwhelming. Not to worry. Here are a few great tips that can help you get through the spring a summer a little more easily, a little more cheaply, and in a way that benefits the earth and the environment just a little. Here are 5 Tips to Make Gardening A Little Easier This Summer.
5. Gardening for Elders
As we grow older, the inevitability of age catches up with us, and our bodies simply can’t do what they once did. At some point, it becomes notably challenging to bend over and stand back up, let alone lift a 25-pound item from the ground. Growing a garden, for example, just isn’t as relaxing as it used to be. When things get to this point, we have to start thinking smarter instead of working harder, and there are lots of ways we can make gardening easier physically if we just plant sensibly. In fact, elderly or not, a lot of these basic garden design ideas could benefit us. We could potentially be saving time, energy, and resources by relying on clever strategies as opposed to hard work and brute strength. Here are 9 Ways to Make Gardening Easier for the Elderly.
6. Vertical Gardening
Vertical gardening is a term that is cropping up more and more often as cultivating food at home has become a growing trend in urban and suburban settings. Using vertical spacing allows growers to expand the area in which they can plant things by not just planting horizontally at ground level, as we have traditionally done, but making full use of walls, rails, stairs, posts, fences, and other things that are common in these settings. If you want to try to grow some gardens this way, read on to learn Why Vertical Gardening is Awesome and How to Do It for Next to Nothing.
7. Thrifty Gardening
Gardening is becoming the thing to do these days and with good reason; it gets us more in touch with what we are eating, it is an easy way to ensure what we eat is safe, and it cuts down on our food costs. As a gardener myself, I’ve learned lots of little tricks of the trade to keep myself in fresh produce for virtual nothing. Here are thrifty gardening tips that might just have those GMO and chemical companies on edge and shelved for good. Have a look at these 5 Tips for Thrifty Gardening.
8. Whimsical Gardens
As well as filling garden spaces with gorgeous flowers, trees, shrubs, and veggies, lots of people also like to put their stamp on the area by adding ornaments, statues, flags, and even the odd garden gnome. While this is all fine and dandy, there are other ways to add whimsy and personality without going out and buying stuff to bring back to your yard. Bring some creativity to your garden using natural materials or items found in nature. This way, your creation can go back to the earth once you have finished with it. Some creations can act as a piece of artwork whilst having a practical use, as well. Take a look at these 4 Ways to Add Whimsy to Your Garden Using Natural Materials.
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