Cultivating the earth is sometimes thought of as a laborious and difficult task. But what If I told you there’s a way to garden the easy way, making sure nature takes care of all the hard work for you, leaving you to enjoy the (literal) fruits of your labor?
By aligning your efforts with nature, and not against her, you can save vast amounts of time, effort, and money, not to mention your back!
Read on to discover some of the ways to garden the lazy way!
Key Takeaways
No Dig Methods
If you’re thinking about starting a vegetable garden, then consider using the no-dig method. No dig method, also known as lasagne gardening, amongst other names, avoids digging the soil, which kills off life by exposing the microbes and all other microorganisms to the sun, thus making the soil less fertile.
Digging often involves ploughing which is incredibly labor-intensive and destructive. No dig methods involve layering cardboard on top of the soil, then a thick layer of compost, topped with mulch such as straw.
You can then plant directly on top of this, without having to break your back! By doing so, you are preserving and enhancing the life that’s already in the soil, thus reducing your reliance on external fertilizers.
Mimic Nature
Natural systems such as forests, produce all their fertility on site, without the need for digging, fertilizing or pest control. Seek to mimic how forests create fertility by utilizing mulch. Forests gain fertility through the decomposition of falling leaves, branches and other organic matter. Seek to emulate this in your garden by covering your garden beds with mulch.
You can use fallen leaves, garden trimmings, grass, or whatever you have. Soil is alive and always likes to be covered so it can move to systems of greater complexity in a process known as syntropy. You can even grow certain plants solely to feed to the soil, such as cover crops, nitrogen fixers, biological accumulators, or any fast-growing species in your climate that can produce a lot of biomass that you can use to feed the soil.
You can use these specifically for chop and drop, where plants are cut and ‘dropped’ to feed the soil and the target species in that area.
Embrace Weeds
Weeds can play an important function in the garden if managed properly. Learn the weeds that grow in your area. Some can help in reducing erosion, in fixing nitrogen (like clovers), in attracting pollinators, or by providing other functions such being medicinal/edible or are biodynamic accumulators (e.g. dandelions).
Knowing the life cycle of the weeds that appear in your garden, you can harness their power to fuel the plants that you want to grow.
Native Plants
Native plants are those that are already adapted to your natural climate and will grow with no external support. You can use these to create microclimates for more delicate plants you may want to grow. You could also use them for biomass for mulching, to make compost, for the benefit of local flora and fauna or simply for something easy to grow in the garden.
Perennials
Perennials are plants that live more than a year. The majority of most commonly enjoyed vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, aubergine (eggplant) etc are annuals, meaning they (usually) live just one year, and die back in the winter. This means that they have to be planted each year if you want to enjoy them time and time again, which involves a certain amount of effort.
By focusing on perennials like fruit trees, perennial vegetables, flowers and other types of plants, you can eliminate the need for planting year after year, reducing your garden workload.
Companion Planting
Companion planting involves planting things together that mutually benefit each other. Common examples include marigolds with your tomatoes to repel pests, and nasturtiums to distract aphids from other crops. Companion planting aims to create mutually beneficial relationships within the ecosystem. This can involve things such as attracting pollinators or predatory insects, repelling pests, providing protection and creating microclimates, amongst others.
Plants are part of the natural world and the natural world is all about relationships, so planting things together makes perfect sense. Companion planting allows you to harness the power of nature by forming plant guilds, (or consortiums) that serve to help each other out.
Efficient Watering Techniques
Plants with similar water needs should be grouped together for ease of watering. Placing individual plants in separate positions can make watering a headache.
Grouping your plants together can help ease your watering regime, whilst also providing benefits to each other. Consider harvesting rainwater and setting up and self-watering system. Drip irrigation is considered the most efficient method, and is especially useful in areas with low rainfall or periods of drought.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Permaculture teaches the art and science of learning to observe and replicate nature. By working with nature and not against her, we can set our gardens up for a higher chance of success than if we were to work against her.
Some simple methods to lessen your workload and increase your benefits/harvests include utilizing no-dig methods, and mulching, whilst embracing the plant life that’s already in your space and using it to your advantage. Focusing on perennials over annuals, and by efficient watering methods, you can be sure to get the most out of your garden with the least amount of effort!
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