Reading the next instruction on cultivation of any culture, it is possible to be horrified, how many efforts are required. In fact, it turns out that many plants are quite tolerant of errors or negligence in care. And it also happens that our green Pets grow not because of our efforts, but in spite of: in our eagerness to do what is best, we can do something extra.
For a real summer resident, working in the beds is a pleasure and joy. But there is a wish to taste also other pleasures, and time at the working owner of a garden-a kitchen garden not so much: days off Yes, if will carry, holiday. And quickly disappearing summer every day counts: time is not weeded, not fed — not counted the harvest.
How to simplify the care of the garden and vegetable garden? I will try to gather together numerous tips and experience and make “Instructions for the cottage “lazy”. Let’s start with 10 basic rules.
1. Curb your greed
“Our greed … makes us pursue so many goals at the same time that in the pursuit of trifles we miss the essential,” said French philosopher and moralist Francois de La Rochefoucauld. But how difficult it is for a modern gardener to limit himself to buying seeds and seedlings!
Numerous real and online stores that just do not offer: dozens of varieties of vegetables, all kinds of flowers, exotic plants. It’s impossible to stop. And we buy a bunch of bright bags every spring. And then there is a problem, the scale of which depends on the magnitude of greed: how to plant everything purchased, and most importantly-where to find the time and energy to all grown up to live.
If you feel that you are not coping in your garden, stop. Try to pull yourself together in front of the counter of the seed store and curb your greed. And even better-make a clear shopping plan before going to the garden center.
Answer honestly, do you really need 100500 varieties of tomatoes, an incomprehensible plant whose name you do not remember and try to find by signs, an exotic vegetable or fruit that will not grow in the open ground and it needs to be planted in a greenhouse?
For a reduced range of vegetation will be better care, all have enough time. And you will have the strength to admire your garden, which is very difficult in the classic pose of a summer resident.
At the same time, count how much you actually need cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables. Throwing out pickles and pickles last year just to free up the banks for the current preparations is not a good example of a diligent housewife. Or 2 buckets of tomatoes for a second cousin’s niece. Maybe the acquired hump is too high a price for good relations with relatives?
2. Choose low-yield plants
If you decide that the care of the garden and garden — not the only thing that attracts you to the cottage, look critically at your site. Give up plants that require a lot of hassle. In flower gardens, give preference to perennial plants, for a long time feeling good in one place without transplanting.
For example, instead of large-flowered varietal tulips plant Botanical-natural species or varieties derived from them. Of course, they are more modest than their garden counterparts. But, firstly, among the varieties sold now, too, a lot of diversity in shape and color, and secondly, Botanical tulips-it’s fashionable. They are indispensable in the design of Alpine slides, will delight you with flowering almost 2 weeks before varietal and free from the annual ritual – digging bulbs in early summer and back-burying in September.
You can also replace part of the usual raspberry repair: you do not have to mess with cutting shoots, bending bushes-in the autumn you can just mow everything. This technique, by the way, facilitates another work in the cultivation of this culture: removing the shoots completely, you will destroy a significant part of the pests and the next year will require less processing of the berry.
3. Consider the frost resistance of plants
Do not try to grow pineapples in the Arctic in the open ground: it will be of little use, and you will spend a lot of energy, nerves and time. If you do not want to spend a lot of time in the fall for the construction of shelters for plants, winter — in the experiences of wrapped Pets, and spring — in their unwinding, limit the number of plants that require insulation for the winter.
In addition to the time and effort saved, get a bonus: in the spring you will not puzzle where to shove tens of meters of covering material before the next use, and in the autumn-where to take the right amount of spruce spruce branches.
4. Plant fewer seedlings
Not all vegetables require seedling manger on your windowsill. For example, cabbage can be grown seedlings in a greenhouse or even seeding immediately to a permanent place. And believe me: cabbage will only get better. She won’t stretch out in the warmth of the room, and she won’t get sick during the transplant. Strong and hardened seedlings are less damaged by Phyllotreta cruciferae and other pests.
In addition to cabbage, too pampered conditions are not required for onions, if you grow Allium porrum and Allium cepa from seeds.
5. Buy seedlings
Of course, you can think that independently grown seedlings are a guarantee that there will be no over-grazing, infections and other problems. But if you buy seeds, then you still can not guarantee purity — and incomprehensible varieties instead of the desired ones can be obtained when buying, and sores too.
Find a reliable manufacturer, and your garden and flower garden will only please. After all, a professional approach to growing seedlings is the right temperature, lighting and humidity, which is almost impossible to provide in an apartment. You will see that slightly increased costs will outweigh all your worries and worries about plant problems.