16 time-saving tips for gardeners

Cultivating a beautiful landscape is a lot of work. These time-saving tips will let you make the most of your minutes in the garden.

1. Start with good soil. Work in compost, manure or dried peat moss for nutrient-rich planting beds. Amended soil is lighter, drains well, makes for easy weeding and allows roots to establish themselves more quickly.

2. Mow less. Limit grassy areas to reduce time spent on lawn chores. Combine trees, shrubs, boulders and decorative mulches to fashion eye-catching, maintenance-free island beds.

3. Play in the rain. There's no better time to visit a garden centre than during rain. Nurseries are less crowded and staff members are more available to answer your questions. Once the rain eases, go out and pull weeds — even clumps of crabgrass and deep-rooted dandelions pull easily out of wet soil.

4. Don't wear yourself out planting in shaded sites with poor soil. When you can't get anything to grow beneath trees or along fences, set up a multitiered container garden in the shady location. Plant shade-loving perennials and compact shrubs in appropriately sized containers; set the containers on stands in varying heights.

5. Fertilize less often. Nourish gardens and containers with time-release fertilizers that continue feeding for long periods of time.

6. Avoid invaders. Choose well-behaved perennials that don't send out runners.

7. Prune wisely. Wait to prune evergreens, such as yews and boxwood, until they've produced most of their new growth. As a result, you won't have to prune them again until next year.

8. Take preventive measures. Add fresh mulch to your gardens every year. A 7.5 to 12 centimetre (three to five inch) layer of mulch keeps weeds from sprouting and helps the soil retain water, so you'll be weeding and watering less often.

9. Get an early start. Divide and transplant hosta as soon as you see leaf tips breaking through the ground — since the stems and leaves have yet to unfurl, it'll be easy to cut the root-ball with a serrated knife. The planted divisions will leaf out beautifully in their new sites.

10. Place them in sight. Plant vegetables and herbs in large containers placed near your back or front door. You'll remember to keep them watered and they'll be nearby when you need dinner fixings!

11. Work smarter. Make sure your tools are clean and sharp — they'll last longer and work better in the garden.

12. Take inventory. Make a running list of newly added plants and their locations — this will help you remember what you planted where, which will prevent the inadvertent weeding (and replacing) of a "good plant."

13. Go native. Buy improved varieties of plants that are native to your region. They'll thrive with very little care.

14. Dig once; plant many. When you've got a bag of tulip or lily bulbs to plant, or when using annuals to edge a border, dig a large, single planting hole instead of many smaller holes.

15. Be prepared. At the beginning of the season, stock up on supplies like garden twine, twist ties, garden gloves, plant supports, plant markers and bags of compost to eliminate garden-centre runs.

16. Let them do their thing. Choose plant varieties that readily self-seed, such as corydalis, larkspur and purple coneflower, or that quickly naturalize, such as daffodils and daylilies, to fill out borders inexpensively.

17. Take a tour. Walk around your gardens every day and check plants for pests and diseases — the sooner you spot a problem, the sooner you can take curative measures.