How to Make Time For Gardening
You work all week and come home exhausted. On the weekends, you have lengthy to-do lists. You are taking care of the kids and giving them the time and attention that wasn’t possible during the week. You are taking care of the laundry, the cleaning, and running errands. Who in the world has time to start or maintain a garden?
Life is busy and hectic – and this is why every adult in the world should have a garden to tend to. Starting and maintaining a garden allows you to take time out. It allows you to slow down and to smell the proverbial flowers. But how can you actually make time for gardening in your busy life?
First be aware that if you work for just one complete weekend, you can create a beautiful garden – from start to finish. From that point on, it is just a matter of maintaining the garden. Of course, depending on your schedule, it will be very important to select plants and flowers that do not require a great deal of time and effort on your part, past the initial planting.
From that point, you simply need to schedule gardening time into your schedule. Make sure that you use automatic watering systems, such as a sprinkler system, so that you do not forget to water the garden. This also takes care of the possibility of the plants dying simply because you don’t have time for daily watering activities.
Take five to ten minutes each evening after work – before dark – to pull dead leaves from plants, to inspect your plants for pest damage, and to do a general walk-around and cleanup in your garden. Also, when there is a storm, make sure that you take a bit of time after the storm to clean up any messes or problems that have occurred. As you see problems that will require more of your time or attention, make a note of those problems, and schedule time for taking care of it.
Schedule an hour each weekend to take care of bigger problems or chores. Make sure that you do not view this time as work. Instead, you should be looking forward to getting outdoors and spending time in your garden. If you do view it as work, and you cannot change your perception of this, you might want to rethink gardening, or at the very least rethink the size and scope of your garden.
For easy, day to day chores in your garden, if these are required, you might consider hiring a neighborhood teenager to tend your garden. You can easily show them what needs to be done, and the amount that you pay for this service will usually be quite affordable. Teens can rake leaves, mow grass, pull weeds, and keep the garden area generally clean and tidy. If you have a teenager tending to these duties, you will have more time to actually enjoy the garden, instead of working in the garden.
However, do not underestimate the value of working in your own garden, or the pride and joy that your garden will give you. Gardens can invoke feelings of peace and happiness – and they can also be used to relieve stress. If you experience stress, picture yourself down on your hands and knees, violently jerking weeds out of the ground and tossing them away.
If you really want to benefit from gardening, the truth is that you will find time in your schedule for this activity – and it will be an activity that you truly enjoy, even if you are new to the world of gardening.
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