I am new here, but I am a fellow OKC resident!! One of my best tips is to do a little bit every single day. Pull a few weeds, deadhead, or water every day.
Zone 9/10, costal south,, mid Florida. My best tip is to get up early. Stop in mid day, continue in the early evening. Use bulbs generously, caladiums are beautiful and colorful and can stay in the ground here all year.
I guess you don’t have squirrels, voles or gophers over there. One year I planted a total of 1,100 bulbs of many different types to keep the color throughout the growing season and they were all gone (except for a few daffodils) in a matter of 3-4 years. I live in SE Virginia.
Also in Florida are soil is mostly sand have to implement good soil every 6 months due to our rainy season, if you have a large backyard it can be costly $
It’s taken me about 55 years to realise it’s time for a change in my garden style. Like you I love a lush garden, but I’m starting to replace soft green foliage with hardy scales and reducing my pots. I’m getting ready for my transition from early 70s to the inevitable older age 😱🇦🇺Bronwyn
I'm in zone 6b and my best tip is to pull weeds after every rain while I do a walkabout. I only pull them little by little by "zones" on specific days. If your grdens are broken up in daily zones it helps to not feel overwhelmed. Also using "living ground covers " helps.
Happy Mother’s Day! I’m in zone 5 and my best tip is to group plants together by water and sun requirements. Also, if you know a plant will need staked, do it before the plant gets too big, it’s much easier.
I found out your first tip the hard way. Decided to do the "permaculture" thing and had water loving berries and perennial veggies on an "island" with a hazelnut tree (that likes it dry) and almost killed the nut tree.
Zone 9B Northern California. My tip for a new gardener is to try and find climatically appropriate dupes whenever you want to put in a high maintenance plant. It's much easier long term to put in something like a Hydrangea quercifolia or Hydrangea paniculata than a Hydrangea macrophylla. My other tip is to not be afraid to pull plants out that aren't working. I am guilty to trying to baby struggling plants along when I could just replace them with a new plant or a different plant and in turn save myself so much effort and work.
I'm new to gardening but I have an architectural background. One thing so many people miss is convenient and ample storage. I plan to add small storage sheds and accessories that allow storage throughout my garden space. For example, my sideyard is 6 ft by 45 ft. There's an AC unit in the center. I added a 2.5 ft brick pathway and had enough room to install a 2.5 ft by 5 ft storage shed next to the AC unit. It's in full shade, so it still leaves me plenty of room in the morning sun and afternoon sun areas for planting things as well. I also have a Suncast hose wall mounted reel that has a storage box for hose parts. So adding storage in different parts of the garden for maintenance will make life a lot easier for me.
Main tip is : Cardboard to kill weeds and to keep weeds at bay!! Also, I only plant bulbs that will come back year after year and I can just mulch over the winter.
I learned this lesson when i dug out all the crabgrass in my front yard without killing the weeds first. I covered the area with weed cloth and bark. Then the crabgrass grew back! This was a hard lesson to learn. It was so pretty. Now I have to start all over again!
I just learned about cardboard and WOW! It certainly worked for me. I was so pleasantly pleased that I will always use it now. My Walmart will save cardboard for me, free of charge.
Ditto on the cardboard. I put it down esp in the fall in an area thats a new bed or weedy one and add compost clippings or mulch on top. Let it go all winter. I also use it all year around in addition to 4+ layers of newspaper covered with some kind of mulch.
LOVE hearing Stuart's voice. Not only does he have a wonderful speaking voice, he asks questions I was thinking about. It also adds another layer of interest to the videos.
I live in High Desert California. I use thick bark mulch, at least 3" to conserve water and prevent weeds. Soil ammendment when planting. Some of my pots in my patio garden (use moisture control potting soil for all) I plant some annuals as I like to have some blasts of color to look at while sitting on my patio. My peaceful place.
since I am in drought prone California, my beneficial low maintenance change was putting in a dry creek bed through my front yard . It is banked on each side with green flowering shrubs and evergreens. Seasonally I do add some annual color. But it really took up at least a third of the yard that I no longer have to prune or plant or deadhead or fertilize. Yet with all the green is doesn't look dry at all.
Hi Linda, Unfortunately I really can't contribute to all of your great tips!! I only wish I could have had someone to follow with your knowledge 50 years ago!! New gardeners are so lucky to be able to learn from you!!! I know my gardens would have certainly looked different!! Thank you for all of your really great information! Hi Stewart! Have a wonderful day! :)
Well, I have started my "binge" watching ( in no particular order)...LOL! Well, I am starting from scratch, pretty much, at our new home. I LOVE your tips on low-maintenance gardening and plan to definitely take your advice as I am really into a more relaxed lifestyle both inside and out! This summer, however, I am only planting in pots. This renovation has been quite the journey if you will, and I am going to spend this year just relaxing and making plans for future gardens and such. I really have enjoyed just shopping for really beautiful pots and filling them with herbs, and multiple annuals. I have gone with a softer color palette, using lots of soft pink petunias, ivy, lantana, blue salvia, white geraniums, and the most precious white lobelia, with a little blue center. I am enjoying my coffee on the covered porch, in the mornings, overlooking my flower pots! Hey, at this point, I am just thankful to be in 1 spot!! Oh, how wonderful it is to watch you and Stewart again! Now I truly feel like I have come HOME! Much love and blessings to you both! Oh, and I LOVE the Jackie O. "shout out"!! I have read so many books about her life and the life of the Kennedy women...Fascinating reads!
Zone 7a. My tip is to break my garden into manageable segments and work on one area at a time. Feels less overwhelming that way. When weeding I set a timer for 15 minutes. Sometimes I do several 15 minute blocks but even one makes a big difference. I discovered the hori hori knife from one of your videos and it has been an enormous help in pulling out the dreaded invasive cordata or bishops weed.
Linda. These were fantastic tips! I do a lot of them already. I am 7b zone & my tip is to mulch really well! Yes, this is time consuming yet reduces the amount of watering needed & reduces odds of losing plants. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
I’ve eliminated all pots with less than a 10 inch circumference. Using bigger pots allows them to be watered by a drip system. The downside is that I can’t always hide the drip irrigation. For instance with a topiary. But not having to water them AND being able to be out of town without a plant sitter is the trade-off.
Sheila McDade here . . . QUESTION OF THE DAY on low maintenance-- I have lots of ground covers which help keep weeds under control because there's no room for them. Also, I put cardboard under the mulch in problem areas to help smother out weeds. I love your layers you are a genius at it!
Linda: you are a gardening genius! I have learned so many valuable tips in the past few videos that I have already put into action. I feel like I am watching a master class in gardening each and everytime I watch your videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.🇨🇦🌷
Hi Linda, I love your videos, you are an amazing gardener and more importantly a wonderful human being. We need more Linda Vaters in this world.. My tip would be to invest in garden tools that preform better and don’t wear you out maintaining your flower gardens. I just bought a little tool called a Hori Hori. It can cut through roots, help divide hosta’s, iris, astilbes, pry out weeds like dandelion and many others types. I am dividing and giving away a lot of my hosta’s and other plants that multiply so I don’t have as many in my landscape to take care of. The Hori Hori is my new favorite tool!
I'm in Midlothian, VA, zone 7a. For me drip irrigation has truly been a maintenance saver. I'm originally from CA, so I know about saving water, and drip is all about that. While there is still some maintenance to make sure all the tubes and drippers are functional, it really saves time not having to drag a hose around and through the garden beds.
Zone 7b Lawton, OK. YAY Stewart! Thank you for asking the questions I would have asked! I didn't think Linda could get any better, but your engagment with her, makes it even more interesting and educational. Love it!
Thanks for your tips. Mine is plant more trees, bushes, perennials, plants that re-seed, and plants that naturalize. Essentially plant only favorite annuals and plant them for greatest effect so you can plant fewer of them. Digging is hard work.
Happy Mom’s Day! I recently learned that all geraniums should be snapped off at the very base junction of the stem, rather than pinched. If they are pinched, then the plant still sends energy to the stub. Bonus is that you don’t have all those dry stubs after they die.
Thank you for all the good sense gardening tips! The time savers for me include a drip system for my pots, plus I've reduced my pots for the most impact with the least effort. Also, I love the abundant color of petunias but the deadheading, so, I only purchase Proven Winner Supertunias. They do not need to be deadheaded for repeated bloom. Plus, the rabbits don't eat them. Also, for the last several years, I've kept a spreadsheet of all the annuals and perennials that I purchase every year. Then, I use the spreadsheet at the nursery as a check off list. It saves me from the need to count how many plants I may need in certain areas every year. The other thing I plan on incorporating is Linda's suggestion to plant more flowering bushes rather than flowers. I plan to do this in my front yard because the tree is new and the roots won't be disturbed by the digging.
My Zone 10 garden in Southern California loves cacti and succulents. Converting to these plant groups was a game changer, both in maintenance and water use.
Not be afraid to not use all the pots I have like you Linda I have a plethora of clay pots that look nice stacked and not used and doing a good tidy in spring and fall. Thank You Sweet Ladies for all your tips🌹❣️💐Mothers Day Blessings.🥰
I live in the Tulsa area and my best tip is to not fight your climate. Don’t try to have a garden that does not like your climate Research what grows well with your climate and you will save yourself much pain. Trying to get plants to survive here in Oklahoma that love cool, wet climes may be asking for trouble. Rudebeckias, daisies, bee balm, day lilies, cannas and peonies work well for me along with several flowering shrubs.
Great ideas. Love your jacket. My tips: put in supports for peonies when they first appear because I get busy and forget later on. Put in the structure and then plant which I am doing now for a new bed. Another tip and what I am going to do is put in in ground irrigation-it will save time, money and water. I would love to know more about your "grass".
Love all of these tips. I am going to add more flowering shrubs and more ground covers. I live out in the country surrounded with lots of huge trees so am working with some sun, part sun and lots of part shade to shade and deer. I use deer stopper from Menards/walmart and that seems to keep them away from the plants that they love to eat. I love containers but am finding instead of putting so many different plants in the pots, I love with just one type of flower in each pot, they seem to be much more of a show stopper for me. As usual, I love all of your honest tips and enjoy hearing your process on the yard, thrifting, and your home---all of your wonderful tips and ideas!!
Happy Mother's Day to you 😊 I'm in zone 4 and what has been life changing for myself in the garden is mulching to help suppress weeds. I wish knew this 30 years ago! 😀 And yes I should've planted more shrubs 👍
Linda, I took your advice last spring and planted several flowering shrubs which are just gorgeous already this spring! I planted a weigela, a snowball viburnum and some variegated red twig dogwood. They’ve filled out beautifully and are going to be important parts of the garden. Thank you!
Happy Mother's Day Linda. I love this segment, it was great advice. It is so exciting to hear Stewart coming out of his shell , and asking about gardening. I think you got him hooked on gardening.🤗
I just love that you call your husband 'hubs'...so endearing. Great tips...thank you! I'm in 6a and I also love flowering shrubs and ground covers for weed suppression. This year I'm making an effort to group containers and water loving plants near each other so I'm not traipsing all over with the hose and watering can.
Good morning, Happy Mother's Day! In zone 7, mid Atlantic, with a large garden, but aging gardener, I have started on my largest beds, and brought in shrubs to replace perennials, and I love the look, I'm still a slave to mulching, but it is what it is. I have planted hundreds of daffodils (now thousands), early, mid and late, we are just finished with the late, underplanted with hostas, which will come up and cover the dying leaves, don't cut them. I have also planted amongst them flowering trees, currently attempting at propagation of some of my favorites. I love tulips, and there are some that will naturalize, but don't give you the show of planting in bulk every fall. I absolutely love your gardens! Hope you have a great day, all very good tips!
Lynne here. I loved all the tips you gave especially the one about picking low maintenance plants which I do for the most part but you’ve put it back on my radar. Another tip is if you can, get help. You’ve talked about it before and getting an extra pair of hands to help you is priceless. It allows me to relax more about the garden and focus on the fun bits. Great video as always.
Learned from you during the pandemic - about how to use shrubs instead of focusing on flowers. I am a new gardener and was mostly focused on houseplants before. This has opened up a whole new world!
I practice pretty much all of your tips and have found them to be effective.(Zone 8a) If you are a boxwood addict like me, my only tip would be to have slow growing ones. I know dwarf English boxwood can have its drawbacks, but if you are informed as to what to do, such as giving them lots of air circulation, and using clean tools, they only have to have a light trim once a year.👍🏻
Great tips for those who don't enjoy gardening! I love gardening, I could never have enough room for more, more, more!!! Lol! My happy place is working in the garden!
Happy Mothers Day to you Linda and all your beautiful gardening community. I am sitting up in bed in Australia 🇦🇺 🦘waiting for my breakfast to be served and what else would I want to watch on this special morning but one of your RUclips videos 💕👍! This is a difficult day today for me, as I have recently lost my beloved Mother. So to you Linda I thank you for your grace, personality and humility to us all. God Bless. Fiona from Australia 🦘
Zone 9b here. I have a small paved courtyard with flower beds all around the outside as part of my backyard. My tip for lower maintenance areas of garden is to choose non-deciduous plants. Less messy in the Fall and I have green all winter. For example, Foxtail ferns, sago palms. Beautiful year round in my zone and very low to no maintenance as well as drought-tolerant which is increasingly important. I also have the exact same wedding ring as you. I love it so much!
Hi from England. You really have covered it in your hard scaping. But l took out a border running the length of my conservatory and replaced it with a path. Then at the side of my bungalow which gets some morning sun and late afternoon sun, l replaced with hard scaping. As lock down came, l put three very very large pots with 3' bay trees which are growing well. And three small tables and chairs. I call it my Café area. Then friends could come for coffee and cake. And we were socially distanced. I got some wipe down table cloths, which l leave in place. It's an area out of the wind. Add more pots if l want to or not. The whole area look very pretty but maintenance is very low. I am 76 and want to keep gardening as long as l can. 😊🐞🦋🐝
Best tip is to plan ahead such as during the winter. I spent two years planning my very small and narrow garden. Most are shrubs and perennials. I have annual containers for continuing color and fun. I'm very satisfied. I planned my containers ahead to prevent myself from splurging.
Happy Mother's Day! Zone 6B in Ontario Canada I have been leaning more to perennials that don't require a lot of maintenance and flowering shrubs. But I must say working in the garden is therapeutic for the mind and soul. It's my Happy place!
Here in Pensacola fl I do aim for cottage garden ... love these ideas so so agree with all these ideas !!! I consider my many spaces as chaotic control..
Linda, I love using nandina as a "filler" (of sorts) --softening sharp corners of the garden and just pruning it enough to keep it from getting too "leggy" or invasive.
I love loose, blousy boxwood. Currently, I have 5 large and 6 small boxwood and I hand prune all of them. I perfer a softer, less formal (but still tidy) look and I don't even own a pair of hedge trimmers. :-) I'm buidling my garden now and I'm trying to plan in advance all the things that will make the maintenance easier as I get older. Enjoyed your tips! Thanks for another great video!
7b in Boise here again. Last frost date was April 15 and we woke up to SNOW today! Still have my tomato seedlings inside but hope my melon and squash seeds are staying warm out there
Hi, I'm growing in zone 7b. My tips are: mulch your beds and containers, it helps so much with watering; try to have noe bare soil so weeds don`t have a chance to grow and always plant your plant in the right area (shade, part sun, sun).
Zone 7B. I don’t have irrigation or drip tubing set up, so I’ve gone back to simple old fashioned soaker hoses to water my small vegetable garden. With our Texas winds that can blow our water to Oklahoma and back, the soaker hoses prevent water loss while saturating the veggies thoroughly. Thank you for your tips. Wish I had good gardening design skills. ….. maybe one day… Happy Mother’s Day everybody!!
I've two different styles: a cottage style in the front and French country style in the back, but both unified through some repetition of plants, colors, and pots. My goal has always been low-maintenance gardening by having blooming shrubs, trees, and larger pots as the main structural elements and having annuals in smaller pots. I also recommend drip systems for both in-ground plants and pots (the former a permanent system; the latter a battery-operated system). Happy gardening!
We live in Pacific Northwest desert (3" rain and 110 regularly in summer and -10 in winter). Hot and dry spots are difficult to fill but believe me there is a "right" plant for every difficult space. I was thinking that hardscape was only thing I could do in one spot, but I found Apache Plume which works beautifully. Kind of opposite of your tip to maybe use hardscape instead of high maintenance plants which makes good sense too. However, if you are willing to do the research, you may find a plant option that is better suited for your garden.
Happy Mother’s Day,Linda. Thank you always for all the information you give. I’m a new gardener and have grown leaps and bounds with your wonderful videos. Wishing you a wonderful blessed filled day.
I'm like you in that I love to propagate plants that break off our need to be trimmed. I can't bring myself to throw it away, I gift them. Happy Mother's Day!
I love using containers. I took everything out of my front (very small) flower bed, put down weed control fabric, mulch and then added beautiful pots and a couple of blue bottle trees. I love it and it is super low maintenance.
Zone 5b here...lower maintenance tip for this year for me is...deer fence!..our suburban area is so overrun with critters that my frustration level reached its limit...this will hopefully cut down on so many chewed on & ruined blooms/buds, lettuce, etc. Hubby was willing (although it isn't pretty) & i am grateful!
Zone 6B, I have one place where nothing will survive due to wind. I just lost a much loved boxwood there, so the only thing I'm planting there now is English ivy which will require some pruning, but it will look good as a ground cover and will stay green. I so enjoy your suggestions, Linda. Thank you for being so personal and honest.
Oh gosh. I hate the English Ivy I have. I wish I could kill it all. My dnr site doesn’t call it invasive, but plant with caution in cement border. It will spread everywhere and it’s hard to kill.
I really love that jacket! My tip from GA 7b would be to keep your gloves and snips by the back door. Every time I let the dog out I either pull some weeds or I deadhead a plant or two.
Linda one of my favourite persons in this world! Sometimes I feel like I want to own all the gardens in the world! Oh God, and when I think I can't even own all the plants that I fall in love with! I have to limit the pots, and almost all the place on the ground is all occupied by plants! And plus plants are expensive! When I count all the money that is in my garden, I tell myself "you are really addicted to plants!"🌼🌲🌳
Hi Linda and Stewart great topic. I am always looking to cut down on maintenance chores in the garden. I used to have a lot of containers. Now I have none. I don’t need them. My garden has matured enough for me to not even have room. I have also used more flowering shrubs to fill in empty areas. I have butterfly bush, sweet shrub, lilac, American beauty bush, spirea etc. I use these bushes to attract humming birds butterflies and bees. I use flowering vines to create height and they do not require much bending to trim. I have honeysuckle major wheeler and amethyst falls wisteria. Clematis also but it doesn’t really thrive for me. Evergreens are key to create winter interest. Mulching with sweet pea so at end of season I don’t have to pick it up bc it becomes composted with the soil. Watering. I put soaker hoses down and I have a four way brass valve on the spigot with a timer. I turn it on in the morning and water what it doesn’t get later on in the day. Drought tolerant plants rudbeckia sedum yarrow etc. are less work than most perennials. I never trim my boxwoods they are wild! I don’t plant tulips bc they are squirrel food and don’t come up every year. Allium muscari crocus daffies snow drops hellebores. I go to botanical gardens for ideas in early spring to see what’s coming up. Best thing is to have a hired helper to do a few things for you. Like mulching trimming trees and large shrubs. I need them bc my yews are ten feet high and run about 25 feet long. Flowering trees are nice. My pink dogwood is a real eye catcher and requires no work from me. My busiest times are early spring and late fall to cut things back and compost the trimmings. Summer is just watering. I also try to work in sections. One day this bed the next day that bed etc. never all at once. It’s great exercise builds muscle and gets you outside. You look very pretty in the blue jacket to match your eyes. Hope the signing went well. Happy Mothers Day!🤗 !!🌺🌺🌺7a New York
What a wonderful way to end my beautiful Mother’s Day! I enjoyed all of your tips and just being able to see every part of your garden! Good to hear Stewart’s input!!!! Looking forward to your next video!!!!
My very best gardening tip is to use no dig layering to build new gardening beds. You will thank yourself when you have so much less back breaking work in preparing the bed AND much less weeding later on! I planted immediately in the last one I built with no waiting!
Thanks so much for the great tips!! Zone 8b, I know drainage is better with landscape fabric under gravel,and pavers but Bermuda grass comes right up through it so I use tarps and then I only have to deal with the weed seeds that blow on top, which are much easier to remove.
Awesome video. Thank you for sharing your wonderful tips. Wish I knew those when I started. I just love the colour of those Iris. There beautiful! Happy Mother’s Day!
Zone 6b/7a. We have a terrible problem with deer, and I’ve learned that if I want plants that deer like, either we plant them behind plants they don’t like, or substitute similar plants the deer don’t like. We don’t even bother with vegetables; the deer just belly up to the salad bar.
Zone 10b so most of my plants have to be drought tolerant. Turned a third of my small garden into succulents. Just enough maint, but not daily. New to gardening, but watering those annuals daily last year was not so fun after awhile. Planted 2 Nandinas and Waverly Salvia for mothers day. Just love your videos; your amazing!
Happy Mothers Day Linda 🌿 Loved all the tips today, & look forward to hearing more about layering design tips! My LM tip- use primarily low maintenance perennials with all-season interest. Use more high maintenance plants in moderation and that can handle summers without too much attention required.
This video came just in time. My mama planted 4 oleander bushes because they are green in winter and do not require much water. I inherited her house and have spent the last 30 years learning to garden. I am now agreeing with my mother and am looking for more drought tolerant plants like butterfly bush, bougainvillea, Arabian jasmine, and am taking more of my potted plants and putting them in the ground. I just don't feel like watering pots every day. I don't think I can get away from deadheading as I like geraniums and roses because they bloom almost continuously. I like your idea of tall backdrop plants with medium and short plants around and in front of them and the grass or ground cover at the bottom of the "bowl".
Zone 5B I source plants that work double duty. I love Iris but only purchase yellow variegated Iris - I often times sacrifice the blooms because the yellow edged leaves look stunning in the shade. Try a golden sword yucca. Gorgeous even when not in bloom. I rely on hydrangeas from the miniatures such as 'Bobo' to the giants such as Oakleaf hydrangea 'Alice'. In our zone evergreens are essential - plant them first and design around them. If you have a low lying wet problem area, solve it with water loving plants. Knocking back container planting is huge! I went from 80 containers to 4. This kind of editing forces you to focus on what will make the best statement and usually it's one plant in each pot. Mulch your containers and mulch mulch mulch all of your gardens. Happy Mother's Day! I'm glad I found this video.
NE Ohio, Zone 6A. My tip includes a variant of a tip others have mentioned about grouping plants with similar needs together. I am attempting to do this as part of a strategy of co-existing with the deer population that devours landscapes in my area. We get periods where it rains too often to try to spray deer repellant religiously. I am trying to determine which plants are resistant to the deer in my area (deer here will feast on some plants that routinely appear on "deer resistant" lists), and incorporate more of those. Reduce the number of areas that need to be fenced off or covered to keep the deer out. Group together the plants that deer love, but that I also love too much to eliminate completely!
I only plant things that grow in the ground, except for a few urns on the patio with flowers and ivy, and only perennials so they return every year. I do love your gardens though!
Zone 7a and just down the road from you in Tulsa. My top tip is to get an automatic watering system going. Some sort of irrigation system (drip, sprinklers, etc.) and a timer so that it is "set and forget'. Because come July and August I utterly loathe having to stay outside in the heat to get everything a deep drink.
Hedges should be narrower at the top and wider at the bottom to keep light available to the lower leaves. Same for the ends. I noticed you have bare branches. Try this pruning method to keep hedges at their best.
Hello Linda and Stewart! Thank you so much Linda for all these great tips. You have the most Beautiful yard. I would love to nave a yard like yours .So I will take all your tips I can. Thank you for sharing all your know about gardening with us as I so appreciate it. So until next time God Bless you and your family and Stewart and have a Blessed day and stay safe my dear and Special Friends. 🙂🌻🌳
I am new here, but I am a fellow OKC resident!! One of my best tips is to do a little bit every single day. Pull a few weeds, deadhead, or water every day.
Welcome!
Zone 9/10, costal south,, mid Florida. My best tip is to get up early. Stop in mid day, continue in the early evening. Use bulbs generously, caladiums are beautiful and colorful and can stay in the ground here all year.
I guess you don’t have squirrels, voles or gophers over there. One year I planted a total of 1,100 bulbs of many different types to keep the color throughout the growing season and they were all gone (except for a few daffodils) in a matter of 3-4 years. I live in SE Virginia.
So so much depends on the conditions where we garden!
Yep! I get out about 5:30-6:00 am to beat the heat, wasps and afternoon downpours (7b va)
Also in Florida are soil is mostly sand have to implement good soil every 6 months due to our rainy season, if you have a large backyard it can be costly $
I wake up 9am, water my plants, then I go back to bed.
It’s taken me about 55 years to realise it’s time for a change in my garden style. Like you I love a lush garden, but I’m starting to replace soft green foliage with hardy scales and reducing my pots. I’m getting ready for my transition from early 70s to the inevitable older age 😱🇦🇺Bronwyn
I bet you your garden will keep you healthy and nimble! 🌹
Perfect timing..coffee break 😊. Happy Mother's Day Linda to all of my garden friends that are Mother's!! 💐
Thank you.🌷🌷🌷
🌺🌺🌺
I'm in zone 6b and my best tip is to pull weeds after every rain while I do a walkabout. I only pull them little by little by "zones" on specific days. If your grdens are broken up in daily zones it helps to not feel overwhelmed. Also using "living ground covers " helps.
Happy Mother’s Day! I’m in zone 5 and my best tip is to group plants together by water and sun requirements. Also, if you know a plant will need staked, do it before the plant gets too big, it’s much easier.
Yes!
I found out your first tip the hard way. Decided to do the "permaculture" thing and had water loving berries and perennial veggies on an "island" with a hazelnut tree (that likes it dry) and almost killed the nut tree.
Zone 9B Northern California. My tip for a new gardener is to try and find climatically appropriate dupes whenever you want to put in a high maintenance plant. It's much easier long term to put in something like a Hydrangea quercifolia or Hydrangea paniculata than a Hydrangea macrophylla. My other tip is to not be afraid to pull plants out that aren't working. I am guilty to trying to baby struggling plants along when I could just replace them with a new plant or a different plant and in turn save myself so much effort and work.
You are so right!!!
I'm new to gardening but I have an architectural background. One thing so many people miss is convenient and ample storage. I plan to add small storage sheds and accessories that allow storage throughout my garden space. For example, my sideyard is 6 ft by 45 ft. There's an AC unit in the center. I added a 2.5 ft brick pathway and had enough room to install a 2.5 ft by 5 ft storage shed next to the AC unit. It's in full shade, so it still leaves me plenty of room in the morning sun and afternoon sun areas for planting things as well. I also have a Suncast hose wall mounted reel that has a storage box for hose parts. So adding storage in different parts of the garden for maintenance will make life a lot easier for me.
Invest in rain barrels...it saves water bill and the plants grow better!!
I absolutely love that Stewart is talking more in your videos!
Main tip is : Cardboard to kill weeds and to keep weeds at bay!! Also, I only plant bulbs that will come back year after year and I can just mulch over the winter.
I learned this lesson when i dug out all the crabgrass in my front yard without killing the weeds first. I covered the area with weed cloth and bark. Then the crabgrass grew back! This was a hard lesson to learn. It was so pretty. Now I have to start all over again!
I just learned about cardboard and WOW! It certainly worked for me. I was so pleasantly pleased that I will always use it now. My Walmart will save cardboard for me, free of charge.
Ditto on the cardboard. I put it down esp in the fall in an area thats a new bed or weedy one and add compost clippings or mulch on top. Let it go all winter. I also use it all year around in addition to 4+ layers of newspaper covered with some kind of mulch.
Drip irrigation on a timer. Game changer!
LOVE hearing Stuart's voice. Not only does he have a wonderful speaking voice, he asks questions I was thinking about. It also adds another layer of interest to the videos.
I live in High Desert California. I use thick bark mulch, at least 3" to conserve water and prevent weeds. Soil ammendment when planting. Some of my pots in my patio garden (use moisture control potting soil for all) I plant some annuals as I like to have some blasts of color to look at while sitting on my patio. My peaceful place.
since I am in drought prone California, my beneficial low maintenance change was putting in a dry creek bed through my front yard . It is banked on each side with green flowering shrubs and evergreens. Seasonally I do add some annual color. But it really took up at least a third of the yard that I no longer have to prune or plant or deadhead or fertilize. Yet with all the green is doesn't look dry at all.
Smart
Hi Linda, Unfortunately I really can't contribute to all of your great tips!! I only wish I could have had someone to follow with your knowledge 50 years ago!! New gardeners are so lucky to be able to learn from you!!! I know my gardens would have certainly looked different!! Thank you for all of your really great information! Hi Stewart! Have a wonderful day! :)
Well, I have started my "binge" watching ( in no particular order)...LOL! Well, I am starting from scratch, pretty much, at our new home. I LOVE your tips on low-maintenance gardening and plan to definitely take your advice as I am really into a more relaxed lifestyle both inside and out! This summer, however, I am only planting in pots. This renovation has been quite the journey if you will, and I am going to spend this year just relaxing and making plans for future gardens and such. I really have enjoyed just shopping for really beautiful pots and filling them with herbs, and multiple annuals. I have gone with a softer color palette, using lots of soft pink petunias, ivy, lantana, blue salvia, white geraniums, and the most precious white lobelia, with a little blue center. I am enjoying my coffee on the covered porch, in the mornings, overlooking my flower pots! Hey, at this point, I am just thankful to be in 1 spot!! Oh, how wonderful it is to watch you and Stewart again! Now I truly feel like I have come HOME! Much love and blessings to you both! Oh, and I LOVE the Jackie O. "shout out"!! I have read so many books about her life and the life of the Kennedy women...Fascinating reads!
Zone 7a. My tip is to break my garden into manageable segments and work on one area at a time. Feels less overwhelming that way. When weeding I set a timer for 15 minutes. Sometimes I do several 15 minute blocks but even one makes a big difference. I discovered the hori hori knife from one of your videos and it has been an enormous help in pulling out the dreaded invasive cordata or bishops weed.
I too find this helpful. I try to clean up an area right before its prime be that bloom or foliage.
Linda. These were fantastic tips! I do a lot of them already. I am 7b zone & my tip is to mulch really well! Yes, this is time consuming yet reduces the amount of watering needed & reduces odds of losing plants. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
I’ve eliminated all pots with less than a 10 inch circumference. Using bigger pots allows them to be watered by a drip system. The downside is that I can’t always hide the drip irrigation. For instance with a topiary. But not having to water them AND being able to be out of town without a plant sitter is the trade-off.
I run the irrigation hose under the pot inside the bottom hole of the pot feeding it through to the top of the pot. Then add your soil.
Sheila McDade here . . . QUESTION OF THE DAY on low maintenance-- I have lots of ground covers which help keep weeds under control because there's no room for them. Also, I put cardboard under the mulch in problem areas to help smother out weeds. I love your layers you are a genius at it!
Yes, l like that idea, l have a problem area, so l'm going to give it a go. Thank you.
Linda: you are a gardening genius! I have learned so many valuable tips in the past few videos that I have already put into action. I feel like I am watching a master class in gardening each and everytime I watch your videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.🇨🇦🌷
I totally agree!! She is brilliant!
Thank you dear!
My thoughts exactly!
Yes, well stated!
Hi Linda, I love your videos, you are an amazing gardener and more importantly a wonderful human being. We need more Linda Vaters in this world.. My tip would be to invest in garden tools that preform better and don’t wear you out maintaining your flower gardens. I just bought a little tool called a Hori Hori. It can cut through roots, help divide hosta’s, iris, astilbes, pry out weeds like dandelion and many others types. I am dividing and giving away a lot of my hosta’s and other plants that multiply so I don’t have as many in my landscape to take care of. The Hori Hori is my new favorite tool!
Where did you get your tool??
I live in Tallahassee, FL and love my hori hori!😊
I'm in Midlothian, VA, zone 7a. For me drip irrigation has truly been a maintenance saver. I'm originally from CA, so I know about saving water, and drip is all about that. While there is still some maintenance to make sure all the tubes and drippers are functional, it really saves time not having to drag a hose around and through the garden beds.
Zone 7b Lawton, OK. YAY Stewart! Thank you for asking the questions I would have asked! I didn't think Linda could get any better, but your engagment with her, makes it even more interesting and educational. Love it!
Thanks for your tips. Mine is plant more trees, bushes, perennials, plants that re-seed, and plants that naturalize. Essentially plant only favorite annuals and plant them for greatest effect so you can plant fewer of them. Digging is hard work.
Happy Mom’s Day! I recently learned that all geraniums should be snapped off at the very base junction of the stem, rather than pinched. If they are pinched, then the plant still sends energy to the stub. Bonus is that you don’t have all those dry stubs after they die.
Thank you for all the good sense gardening tips! The time savers for me include a drip system for my pots, plus I've reduced my pots for the most impact with the least effort. Also, I love the abundant color of petunias but the deadheading, so, I only purchase Proven Winner Supertunias. They do not need to be deadheaded for repeated bloom. Plus, the rabbits don't eat them. Also, for the last several years, I've kept a spreadsheet of all the annuals and perennials that I purchase every year. Then, I use the spreadsheet at the nursery as a check off list. It saves me from the need to count how many plants I may need in certain areas every year. The other thing I plan on incorporating is Linda's suggestion to plant more flowering bushes rather than flowers. I plan to do this in my front yard because the tree is new and the roots won't be disturbed by the digging.
My Zone 10 garden in Southern California loves cacti and succulents. Converting to these plant groups was a game changer, both in maintenance and water use.
Not be afraid to not use all the pots I have like you Linda I have a plethora of clay pots that look nice stacked and not used and doing a good tidy in spring and fall. Thank You Sweet Ladies for all your tips🌹❣️💐Mothers Day Blessings.🥰
I live in the Tulsa area and my best tip is to not fight your climate. Don’t try to have a garden that does not like your climate Research what grows well with your climate and you will save yourself much pain. Trying to get plants to survive here in Oklahoma that love cool, wet climes may be asking for trouble. Rudebeckias, daisies, bee balm, day lilies, cannas and peonies work well for me along with several flowering shrubs.
Yes!
My hose reel is a game changer. Zone 9b
Great ideas. Love your jacket. My tips: put in supports for peonies when they first appear because I get busy and forget later on. Put in the structure and then plant which I am doing now for a new bed. Another tip and what I am going to do is put in in ground irrigation-it will save time, money and water. I would love to know more about your "grass".
Love all of these tips. I am going to add more flowering shrubs and more ground covers. I live out in the country surrounded with lots of huge trees so am working with some sun, part sun and lots of part shade to shade and deer. I use deer stopper from Menards/walmart and that seems to keep them away from the plants that they love to eat. I love containers but am finding instead of putting so many different plants in the pots, I love with just one type of flower in each pot, they seem to be much more of a show stopper for me. As usual, I love all of your honest tips and enjoy hearing your process on the yard, thrifting, and your home---all of your wonderful tips and ideas!!
8a I’m trying to put in drip systems and more stone and shrubs in beds.
Happy Mother's Day to you 😊 I'm in zone 4 and what has been life changing for myself in the garden is mulching to help suppress weeds. I wish knew this 30 years ago! 😀 And yes I should've planted more shrubs 👍
Happy Mothers Day Linda, and all your fellow gardeners🌷🌞
Linda, I took your advice last spring and planted several flowering shrubs which are just gorgeous already this spring! I planted a weigela, a snowball viburnum and some variegated red twig dogwood. They’ve filled out beautifully and are going to be important parts of the garden. Thank you!
Happy Mother's Day Linda. I love this segment, it was great advice. It is so exciting to hear Stewart coming out of his shell , and asking about gardening. I think you got him hooked on gardening.🤗
You have the best vocabulary. It’s so impressive!
I just love that you call your husband 'hubs'...so endearing. Great tips...thank you! I'm in 6a and I also love flowering shrubs and ground covers for weed suppression. This year I'm making an effort to group containers and water loving plants near each other so I'm not traipsing all over with the hose and watering can.
Good morning, Happy Mother's Day! In zone 7, mid Atlantic, with a large garden, but aging gardener, I have started on my largest beds, and brought in shrubs to replace perennials, and I love the look, I'm still a slave to mulching, but it is what it is. I have planted hundreds of daffodils (now thousands), early, mid and late, we are just finished with the late, underplanted with hostas, which will come up and cover the dying leaves, don't cut them. I have also planted amongst them flowering trees, currently attempting at propagation of some of my favorites. I love tulips, and there are some that will naturalize, but don't give you the show of planting in bulk every fall. I absolutely love your gardens! Hope you have a great day, all very good tips!
Lynne here. I loved all the tips you gave especially the one about picking low maintenance plants which I do for the most part but you’ve put it back on my radar. Another tip is if you can, get help. You’ve talked about it before and getting an extra pair of hands to help you is priceless. It allows me to relax more about the garden and focus on the fun bits. Great video as always.
It was so nice to actually hear Stewart today! Thank you!! 🇨🇦
Learned from you during the pandemic - about how to use shrubs instead of focusing on flowers. I am a new gardener and was mostly focused on houseplants before. This has opened up a whole new world!
Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there. Have a lovely day. ❤️🌹🎁
Stewart asks the best questions!
I practice pretty much all of your tips and have found them to be effective.(Zone 8a) If you are a boxwood addict like me, my only tip would be to have slow growing ones. I know dwarf English boxwood can have its drawbacks, but if you are informed as to what to do, such as giving them lots of air circulation, and using clean tools, they only have to have a light trim once a year.👍🏻
Great tips for those who don't enjoy gardening! I love gardening, I could never have enough room for more, more, more!!! Lol! My happy place is working in the garden!
Happy Mothers Day to you Linda and all your beautiful gardening community. I am sitting up in bed in Australia 🇦🇺 🦘waiting for my breakfast to be served and what else would I want to watch on this special morning but one of your RUclips videos 💕👍! This is a difficult day today for me, as I have recently lost my beloved Mother. So to you Linda I thank you for your grace, personality and humility to us all. God Bless. Fiona from Australia 🦘
I’m so sorry but what wonderful memories you must have to sustain you. Be kind to yourself today, dear.
Thank you so much Linda.
Have a lovely Mothers Day.
Fiona 🦘
Btw I am lucky to have a kangaroo in my backyard in the Blue Mts where I live.😊🙏
Happy Mother’s Day Linda. I don’t usually comment but I do watch you and Laura from Garden Answer every day! I found you through her.
Thank you and same to you!
Zone 9b here. I have a small paved courtyard with flower beds all around the outside as part of my backyard. My tip for lower maintenance areas of garden is to choose non-deciduous plants. Less messy in the Fall and I have green all winter. For example, Foxtail ferns, sago palms. Beautiful year round in my zone and very low to no maintenance as well as drought-tolerant which is increasingly important. I also have the exact same wedding ring as you. I love it so much!
Hi from England. You really have covered it in your hard scaping. But l took out a border running the length of my conservatory and replaced it with a path. Then at the side of my bungalow which gets some morning sun and late afternoon sun, l replaced with hard scaping. As lock down came, l put three very very large pots with 3' bay trees which are growing well. And three small tables and chairs. I call it my Café area. Then friends could come for coffee and cake. And we were socially distanced. I got some wipe down table cloths, which l leave in place. It's an area out of the wind. Add more pots if l want to or not. The whole area look very pretty but maintenance is very low. I am 76 and want to keep gardening as long as l can. 😊🐞🦋🐝
That sounds BRILLIANT!!
Ground covers like ajuga and lameian
Best tip is to plan ahead such as during the winter. I spent two years planning my very small and narrow garden. Most are shrubs and perennials. I have annual containers for continuing color and fun. I'm very satisfied. I planned my containers ahead to prevent myself from splurging.
Happy Mother's Day! Zone 6B in Ontario Canada I have been leaning more to perennials that don't require a lot of maintenance and flowering shrubs. But I must say working in the garden is therapeutic for the mind and soul. It's my Happy place!
Here in Pensacola fl I do aim for cottage garden ... love these ideas so so agree with all these ideas !!! I consider my many spaces as chaotic control..
Linda, I love using nandina as a "filler" (of sorts) --softening sharp corners of the garden and just pruning it enough to keep it from getting too "leggy" or invasive.
Love your garden 🌹 So beautiful ❣️ Happy Mother's Day 💐🌹❤️
I love loose, blousy boxwood. Currently, I have 5 large and 6 small boxwood and I hand prune all of them. I perfer a softer, less formal (but still tidy) look and I don't even own a pair of hedge trimmers. :-) I'm buidling my garden now and I'm trying to plan in advance all the things that will make the maintenance easier as I get older. Enjoyed your tips! Thanks for another great video!
7b in Boise here again. Last frost date was April 15 and we woke up to SNOW today! Still have my tomato seedlings inside but hope my melon and squash seeds are staying warm out there
Hi, I'm growing in zone 7b. My tips are: mulch your beds and containers, it helps so much with watering; try to have noe bare soil so weeds don`t have a chance to grow and always plant your plant in the right area (shade, part sun, sun).
Zone 7B. I don’t have irrigation or drip tubing set up, so I’ve gone back to simple old fashioned soaker hoses to water my small vegetable garden. With our Texas winds that can blow our water to Oklahoma and back, the soaker hoses prevent water loss while saturating the veggies thoroughly. Thank you for your tips. Wish I had good gardening design skills. ….. maybe one day…
Happy Mother’s Day everybody!!
Happy Mother's day! Thank you for all the garden tips.
I've two different styles: a cottage style in the front and French country style in the back, but both unified through some repetition of plants, colors, and pots. My goal has always been low-maintenance gardening by having blooming shrubs, trees, and larger pots as the main structural elements and having annuals in smaller pots. I also recommend drip systems for both in-ground plants and pots (the former a permanent system; the latter a battery-operated system). Happy gardening!
This is one of my favorite videos you've done! Love the banter with Stuart. Wonderful.
We live in Pacific Northwest desert (3" rain and 110 regularly in summer and -10 in winter). Hot and dry spots are difficult to fill but believe me there is a "right" plant for every difficult space. I was thinking that hardscape was only thing I could do in one spot, but I found Apache Plume which works beautifully. Kind of opposite of your tip to maybe use hardscape instead of high maintenance plants which makes good sense too. However, if you are willing to do the research, you may find a plant option that is better suited for your garden.
Happy Mother’s Day,Linda.
Thank you always for all the information you give. I’m a new gardener and have grown leaps and bounds with your wonderful videos. Wishing you a wonderful blessed filled day.
I'm like you in that I love to propagate plants that break off our need to be trimmed. I can't bring myself to throw it away, I gift them. Happy Mother's Day!
Putting my veggie garden into raised beds was the best thing I ever did!
Me, too! I’m adding more this year!
Yay Stewart question! 🥳
Beautiful tips Linda!
I received your book for Mother’s Day from my daughters. Love looking at it. 🤗♥️
I love using containers. I took everything out of my front (very small) flower bed, put down weed control fabric, mulch and then added beautiful pots and a couple of blue bottle trees. I love it and it is super low maintenance.
Happy Mother's Day! It amazes me how your garden is so much more lush from week to week. Also, I love your jacket, a great find!
Zone 5b here...lower maintenance tip for this year for me is...deer fence!..our suburban area is so overrun with critters that my frustration level reached its limit...this will hopefully cut down on so many chewed on & ruined blooms/buds, lettuce, etc. Hubby was willing (although it isn't pretty) & i am grateful!
Zone 6B, I have one place where nothing will survive due to wind. I just lost a much
loved boxwood there, so the only thing I'm planting there now is English ivy which
will require some pruning, but it will look good as a ground cover and will stay green.
I so enjoy your suggestions, Linda. Thank you for being so personal and honest.
Oh gosh. I hate the English Ivy I have. I wish I could kill it all. My dnr site doesn’t call it invasive, but plant with caution in cement border. It will spread everywhere and it’s hard to kill.
I really love that jacket! My tip from GA 7b would be to keep your gloves and snips by the back door. Every time I let the dog out I either pull some weeds or I deadhead a plant or two.
Linda one of my favourite persons in this world! Sometimes I feel like I want to own all the gardens in the world! Oh God, and when I think I can't even own all the plants that I fall in love with! I have to limit the pots, and almost all the place on the ground is all occupied by plants! And plus plants are expensive! When I count all the money that is in my garden, I tell myself "you are really addicted to plants!"🌼🌲🌳
I understand 😂🤣😂
Hi Linda and Stewart great topic. I am always looking to cut down on maintenance chores in the garden. I used to have a lot of containers. Now I have none. I don’t need them. My garden has matured enough for me to not even have room. I have also used more flowering shrubs to fill in empty areas. I have butterfly bush, sweet shrub, lilac, American beauty bush, spirea etc. I use these bushes to attract humming birds butterflies and bees. I use flowering vines to create height and they do not require much bending to trim. I have honeysuckle major wheeler and amethyst falls wisteria. Clematis also but it doesn’t really thrive for me. Evergreens are key to create winter interest. Mulching with sweet pea so at end of season I don’t have to pick it up bc it becomes composted with the soil. Watering. I put soaker hoses down and I have a four way brass valve on the spigot with a timer. I turn it on in the morning and water what it doesn’t get later on in the day. Drought tolerant plants rudbeckia sedum yarrow etc. are less work than most perennials. I never trim my boxwoods they are wild! I don’t plant tulips bc they are squirrel food and don’t come up every year. Allium muscari crocus daffies snow drops hellebores. I go to botanical gardens for ideas in early spring to see what’s coming up. Best thing is to have a hired helper to do a few things for you. Like mulching trimming trees and large shrubs. I need them bc my yews are ten feet high and run about 25 feet long. Flowering trees are nice. My pink dogwood is a real eye catcher and requires no work from me. My busiest times are early spring and late fall to cut things back and compost the trimmings. Summer is just watering. I also try to work in sections. One day this bed the next day that bed etc. never all at once. It’s great exercise builds muscle and gets you outside. You look very pretty in the blue jacket to match your eyes. Hope the signing went well. Happy Mothers Day!🤗 !!🌺🌺🌺7a New York
Same to you!
@@LindaVater Thank you😊
Great tips. Sweet pea as groundcover?? Like the fragrant cut flower Lathyrus odoratus?
@@jcrane45585 sorry sweet peat mulch was what I meant.
What a wonderful way to end my beautiful Mother’s Day! I enjoyed all of your tips and just being able to see every part of your garden!
Good to hear Stewart’s input!!!!
Looking forward to your next video!!!!
My very best gardening tip is to use no dig layering to build new gardening beds. You will thank yourself when you have so much less back breaking work in preparing the bed AND much less weeding later on! I planted immediately in the last one I built with no waiting!
Thanks so much for the great tips!! Zone 8b, I know drainage is better with landscape fabric under gravel,and pavers but Bermuda grass comes right up through it so I use tarps and then I only have to deal with the weed seeds that blow on top, which are much easier to remove.
This year I am planting more Perennials instead of annuals. And 6 extra flowering shrubs.
Zone 6b. South of Salt Lake City, Utah. My best tip to get up early enough to beat the heat. I picked that tip up from my grandmother.
Awesome video. Thank you for sharing your wonderful tips. Wish I knew those when I started. I just love the colour of those Iris. There beautiful!
Happy Mother’s Day!
I never thought of limping up a weight!! Yours looks so beautiful ! Love all your tips today. Thank you Linda. HAPPY Mothers Day!
Zone 6b/7a. We have a terrible problem with deer, and I’ve learned that if I want plants that deer like, either we plant them behind plants they don’t like, or substitute similar plants the deer don’t like. We don’t even bother with vegetables; the deer just belly up to the salad bar.
Zone 10b so most of my plants have to be drought tolerant. Turned a third of my small garden into succulents. Just enough maint, but not daily. New to gardening, but watering those annuals daily last year was not so fun after awhile. Planted 2 Nandinas and Waverly Salvia for mothers day. Just love your videos; your amazing!
Happy Mothers Day Linda 🌿 Loved all the tips today, & look forward to hearing more about layering design tips! My LM tip- use primarily low maintenance perennials with all-season interest. Use more high maintenance plants in moderation and that can handle summers without too much attention required.
This video came just in time. My mama planted 4 oleander bushes because they are green in winter and do not require much water. I inherited her house and have spent the last 30 years learning to garden. I am now agreeing with my mother and am looking for more drought tolerant plants like butterfly bush, bougainvillea, Arabian jasmine, and am taking more of my potted plants and putting them in the ground. I just don't feel like watering pots every day. I don't think I can get away from deadheading as I like geraniums and roses because they bloom almost continuously. I like your idea of tall backdrop plants with medium and short plants around and in front of them and the grass or ground cover at the bottom of the "bowl".
Zone 8b planting rosemary and sedum in my flowerbeds! They are very easy and practically maintenance free.
Zone 5B I source plants that work double duty. I love Iris but only purchase yellow variegated Iris - I often times sacrifice the blooms because the yellow edged leaves look stunning in the shade. Try a golden sword yucca. Gorgeous even when not in bloom. I rely on hydrangeas from the miniatures such as 'Bobo' to the giants such as Oakleaf hydrangea 'Alice'. In our zone evergreens are essential - plant them first and design around them. If you have a low lying wet problem area, solve it with water loving plants. Knocking back container planting is huge! I went from 80 containers to 4. This kind of editing forces you to focus on what will make the best statement and usually it's one plant in each pot. Mulch your containers and mulch mulch mulch all of your gardens. Happy Mother's Day! I'm glad I found this video.
Excellent tips all!
Zone 8b drip irrigation
I want to incorporate drip irrigation this year, but am so intimidated.
NE Ohio, Zone 6A. My tip includes a variant of a tip others have mentioned about grouping plants with similar needs together. I am attempting to do this as part of a strategy of co-existing with the deer population that devours landscapes in my area. We get periods where it rains too often to try to spray deer repellant religiously. I am trying to determine which plants are resistant to the deer in my area (deer here will feast on some plants that routinely appear on "deer resistant" lists), and incorporate more of those. Reduce the number of areas that need to be fenced off or covered to keep the deer out. Group together the plants that deer love, but that I also love too much to eliminate completely!
My tulips come back year after year. I planted them 20 years ago. They are in my yard and we just mow when they are done. Zone 5
Happy Mother's Day to you!!🌷🎉🌷
I only plant things that grow in the ground, except for a few urns on the patio with flowers and ivy, and only perennials so they return every year. I do love your gardens though!
Zone 7a and just down the road from you in Tulsa. My top tip is to get an automatic watering system going. Some sort of irrigation system (drip, sprinklers, etc.) and a timer so that it is "set and forget'. Because come July and August I utterly loathe having to stay outside in the heat to get everything a deep drink.
Hedges should be narrower at the top and wider at the bottom to keep light available to the lower leaves. Same for the ends. I noticed you have bare branches. Try this pruning method to keep hedges at their best.
Hello Linda and Stewart! Thank you so much Linda for all these great tips. You have the most Beautiful yard. I would love to nave a yard like yours .So I will take all your tips I can. Thank you for sharing all your know about gardening with us as I so appreciate it. So until next time God Bless you and your family and Stewart and have a Blessed day and stay safe my dear and Special Friends. 🙂🌻🌳