105 | Garden Maintenance : Part 01

 

I’ll be tidying up the garden over a period of time. There are no set days for doing so as each day is different. Instead of trying to get it all done in one go, I divide the garden into “zones” and tackle each one or multiple zones whenever I get a chance and depending on the day’s circumstances. Weeding takes up most of the time. Mowing the lawn, blowing/ raking leaves and sweeping the patio area takes the least.

Tidying up strategy

Producing a schedule of what chores should get done when would not only be an inappropriate solution for my lifestyle but could also put a negative spin on what has become an enjoyable hobby. Juggling the growing demands of family life with gardening on a strict gardening schedule would just create anxiety and disappointment. Instead, breaking chores down into bite-sized pieces makes a mammoth task much simpler. I’ve roughly come up with zones for the garden so I have a clear idea on where I’ll be tackling for a given cleaning up session. 

I’ve split the garden up into 8 different sections. The amount of time that it will take to sort out each zone should total up to 20mins (which should include retrieving and packing away tools). Alexander typically naps for 30 minute stretches at the moment so this should also give me time to have a quick shower afterwards. Jason is typically outside with me but would be indoors playing on very rare occasions.

Zones

• 01 Lawn | mowing and adhoc weeding. 
• 02 Flowerbed Left | with the log roll edging installed, this weeding up task will be the easiest and quickest of them all because I only have to tackle the parts of the flowerbed that’s on the outside of it.
• 03 Rear Left | the area I dub as “the woodlands” is one of the trickiest areas to tackle on account of all the trees proximity to each other and their low lying canopies.
• 04 Rear Middle | one of the easiest areas to weed due to how open it is. 
• 05 Rear Right | another fairly easy weeding job though I have to avoid the low lying canopy of the crab apple tree.
• 06 Flowerbed Right | not really a flowerbed but named as such for ease. This is probably the trickiest space to weed. I have to clear up a lot of fallen leaves from the shrubs and there’s not much space to easily move around in.
• 07 Flowerbed Front | another easy space to weed as it’s directly behind the retaining wall so weeding can be done in front of it where it’s knee high.
• 08 Patio | leaf blowing, weeding and sweeping. Another straightforward space but could be time consuming.

Session one

Today I’ve got the kids to myself so time is very limited. Out of all the tasks there are to do, I decide that cutting the grass should be one of the few that takes the least amount of time and one that’s high up on the to-do list. A few weeds managed to embed themselves in the lawn but I’ll have to deal with those at another time. 

This time last year, the lawn was thriving. Hubby and I did all the steps one should do (bar fertilising) to get one’s lawn back up to a decent quality; scarifying, aerating, re-seeding and top dressing. This year, life has gotten in the way and my feeble shortcut attempt to restore the lawn (top dressing and reseeding only) failed. I’ll have to leave this project for next year when hopefully I’ll have a bit more time to do it properly. 

With that said, the new game plan for this year for trying to achieve a healthy looking lawn is to water frequently in dry spells and mow as often as possible with sharp blades and allow the grass clippings to remain on the lawn. Mowing frequently encourages lateral growth because the hormones in the tips of the grass which promotes vertical growth are removed from the plants regularly. The grass clippings (which can take up to 3 weeks to decompose) are nutrient rich and will help feed the lawn (provided that the clippings aren’t masses of clumps which can damage the lawn if not removed or reduced and raked in). Mowing frequently means the clippings will be tiny so there will be no need for raking or removing them.

We use a battery powered lawnmower which works just fine for our 20 metered squared lawn. I just need to ensure I’ve given it a good charge at least an hour beforehand. The lawn space is an organic shape meaning there’s no real “starting place” to get going so I just start somewhere near the middle and end up around the steps at the end. 

There are bedding plants that are fairly close to the lawn’s edge but as they are grown in sunken pots (pot-in-pot gardening) I can simply lift them out if they’ve grown over to avoid cutting them with the mower then sink them back when I’m done.

Session two

Today my mom is over helping out with the kids so I’ve got a bit more time. The initial plan was to tackle one zone but I managed to get zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 done! This is the first time that I’ve managed to weed these areas this year so there were a lot of weeds, overgrown ivy and leaf fall from trimming the shrubs earlier in the year. 

I started in zone 4 first as it’s the easiest space to weed. Then headed over to zone 3. Finally, I tackled zones 5 and 6. The whole session lasted an hour and a half which roughly works out to 20mins for each zone.

A breath of fresh air

What resulted was a garden that looked organised and felt like it was “breathing”! Though everything wasn’t finished the progress made was a sight for sore eyes. The overgrown weeds made it hard to see where the grass stopped and the “woodlands” began. Now, each zone could be clearly identified and became resting spots for the eyes. Even the robins and blue tits agreed! There’s been a noticeable increase in the number of them as they can now clearly see the woodland bed to nab their next meal.

Breaking down the garden into bite-sized zones instead of trying to adhere to a strict maintenance schedule is definitely much easier to digest.

For more parts (if any) regarding this specific project, type “105” in the search box at the top of the page.

Q&A

I started this project with a few questions in mind and have since found answers to them either through my own experience or via the internet:

Q: Can I successfully reseed my lawn by just throwing down some grass seeds?

A: No. From my experience, throwing down grass seeds without preparing the lawn beforehand would only lead to poor germination and any grass that manages to grow will eventually die.