Lazy Gardening: Frugal and Green!

Some of you may not be ready to discuss the impending change of season.  However, it is just around the corner; I already have leaves that are beginning to change color. Autumn is the when, whether you realize it or not, you lay the foundation for next year’s garden. It sounds like a lot of work, but this is a time when being lazy really pays off!

When a fellow gardener visited my home she asked if I mulched my hollyhocks over the winter. I confessed that since they are next to the fence, leaves collect there naturally providing them with all the insulation they need. I am too lazy to remove leaves only to lay down mulch. Plus the leaves are free and when they break down they add nutrients to the soil.

I let leaves collect around the base of all of my plants, including hardy perennials like the Russian Sage, and leave them there until after the last frost:
I collect the leaves that fall on concrete and use them to mulch my berries. I have experimented and found that my berries are happier when mulched with leaves instead of straw.

I don’t rake the leaves that fall on the grass, I mow them, but as when mowing grass, I don’t bag the clippings. Instead, I let the clippings add nutrients to the soil. The clippings also help retain water during drought conditions.

When writing about chrysanthemums, I shared that I do not cut dead branches back until new growth has appeared in the spring. I apply this to most of my other plants as well. Besides if I cut back my hollyhocks after they were done blooming, what would my morning glories climb?

I also leave my Day Lilly Stems intact. I do not remove them until I can do so effortlessly. Then I use the dried stems as stakes when starting climbing plants in the spring.Sometimes we work harder and spend more money than necessary to keep our yards looking nice. Do your yard and your wallet a favor and embrace your inner lazy gardener!  Tomorrow I will share some of the gardening tasks that I do expend energy on.

This post is linked to Flaunt Your Flowers/Fertilizer Friday and Frugal Friday because I am frugally fertilizing my flowers through sheer laziness! :-)

Daylilies and Repurposing Their Stems

I love my Daylilies! They grow in all types of soil conditions as long as it is well drained. They prefer sun, but tolerate shade. They winter well and can survive extreme heat as long as they receive an inch of water a week. If the rabbits did not like them so much, they would be on my short list of perfect flowers. I have found that the rabbits will not traverse rocks to eat them, so a little landscaping has allowed me to spend less time channeling Mr. McGregor and more time enjoying my flowers.

I have not decided if the tip I am about to share falls under the category of  frugal and green or cheap and lazy; I will let you decide. When my daylilies have stopped blooming, I pinch the dead blooms, so they don’t go to seed, but I do not cut back their stems. Instead I let them dry until I can just twist the dead stems out. Then I have a free, eco-friendly, biodegradable stake to use for my morning glory seedlings.  The dried stems are also perfect for staking peas and green beans when I start them inside before the last frost. They are 2 – 3 feet tall, but very light weight. When I transfer the plant outdoors, I can leave the make do stake with the seedling rather than risk doing damage to the plant by removing it. So what do you think? Am I hiding behind a frugal and green cover, while truly being cheap and lazy?

To view gardens from around the world, visit Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie Time.

Frugal Rabbit Deterrents

Some plants like sunflowers, marigolds, and snap dragons which are supposed to be rabbit resistant are still vulnerable  when they are seedlings. I don’t want to wait until my flowers are a foot tall and flowering before I put them outside, so I have developed a few tricks. 

One trick is to cut the bottom off of a plant container and then set the container around the young plant.  I use tent stakes or coat hangers inserted into the rim of the inverted pot, to keep it from blowing away:
Once the plant is big enough, strong enough, prickly enough or stinky enough, I remove the protective container.

Another trick is to use a plant that the rabbits always find repulsive as a repellent:

Since my rabbits do not like Russian Sage, I plant a sunflower seed close to the plant and surround it when it is most vulnerable with the dead branches of the Russian Sage (they retain the smell).
Once the sunflower is about a foot high and has developed a thick coat of fuzz the rabbits won't touch it and I can remove the dead branches. I also plant many of my flowering bulbs in close proximity to my Russian Sage and scatter dead sage branches around my flower beds in the spring.

I protect my young trees with a simple piece of paper:
The paper on this Emerald Queen Norwegian Maple prevents the rabbits from gnawing on it in the winter. To do this cut a piece of 18 inch paper, 4 inches longer than the circumference of the tree. Wrap the paper around the tree, overlap by at least an inch and tape it closed.

I make my own rabbit repellent, but it needs to be reapplied after precipitation. Using frugal, semi-permanent protection from the rabbits ensures that I don’t lose all of my flowers after every rain shower! Do you have to contend with rabbits or other pests in your yard? How do you protect your plants? Please share your ideas or links in the comment section.

To read about more frugal tips, visit Frugal Friday.