Confessions of a Lazy Gardner

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             The Confessions of a Lazy Gardener (or Ramblings About Weeds)

Ralph Waldo Emerson defined a weed as “a plant whose virtues have yet to be discovered”
I love to be in the garden! The fact that my profession brings me there is a bonus. But I have a confession ... I am..... a very lazy gardener.
Don’t’ get me wrong. I prepare my garden beds as early as possible, pulling any stray weeds that might have blown in over the fall, pulling all the acorns and sunflowers the squirrels buried over the winter, and mixing in some compost before I start to plant. I spend hours starting seeds inside, nurturing and petting those little
seedlings of Striped Roman tomatoes and Shishito peppers.

Days I spend hardening off those seedlings and watching the weather to choose the perfect time to plant them. I plant them, water them and make sure they have just the right amount of fertilizer to get them off to a good start. I stake them, weave them, pinch them, and make sure they have plenty of space to grow. All this when it’s the busiest time of year for anyone in the horticulture industry.
But then .... by the 4th of July I’m done working in the garden! I want to ENJOY my garden the rest of the season.
To walk down to the garden and pick fresh basil and tomatoes for dinner. To pinch some mint from the pot on thedeck for mojitos.

To pick a bouquet of zinnias and bronze fennel fronds for the table. To
enjoy a glass of wine and watch the sunset with the smell of moonflowers in
the breeze. Nope, no garden work for me for the rest of the summer ........
at least until the zucchini is overrunning the garden and I have to sneak
some on to my neighbor’s porch...

But to get there, takes preparation. Did you know in New England we have
two major weed seasons? One in late May/early June and a second in
mid-September. I weed clean right up until the end of June.
Not just those big weeds, I get every little snippet of weed seedlings with a hoe or hand rake. If you weed clean through the first of July, you really don’t have many
weeds again until September. Next, I mulch, a LOT! Some areas are now starting to grow in a living mulch of dwarf white clover and creeping thyme; others have straw and still others
have composted leaves and bark with ground covers. I also set up soaker hoses when I finish planting my first rotation of vegetables in early June and set them on timers. No more holding a hose because the lettuce is wilting! I use good compost and organic fertilizer that I know will feed my plants through the season even if I don’t give them a mid-season boost. I watch for the first signs of any disease or insect and have my controls at the ready.

I make sure the beneficial insects have plenty of cover and ‘wildflower weeds’ to nurture them. We leave the dandelions to bloom (but remove the seed heads before they fly) and give the Queen Ann’s Lace plenty of room at the end of the compost pile. We encourage and feed the birds until they have enough in the landscape to sustain them. We have a small water feature for the frogs and dragonflies. All these plans and using pesticides or fungicides only if any problems get completely out of control (which hasn’t happened in many years) keeps our little urban lot balanced, healthy and nearly maintenance free (ok, we do have to mow our tiny green patch, but it’s more groundcovers now than grass). If when I’m walking along the espalier fence covered in runner beans and I find a stray weed, it’s ok. A little weeding with a glass of wine in hand isn’t so bad!