Club Benefits
I tend to prioritize the chores inside of my home over my garden because it's just easier to ignore. But when spring and summer roll around, I'm suddenly outside trying to enjoy my garden and I realize I've let it turn into a bit of a mess. To offset this problem, I seek out hacks like the '70/30 rule' and the '30-minute garden reset' to fix my issues in the quickest way possible.
I want to enjoy my outside space, but that doesn't mean I have more time in my day to tackle the gardening on top of everything else. Don't get me wrong though, I love my garden. I just don't love having to maintain it in the colder months.
Thankfully, I've found another hack and this one has me performing an evening routine in my garden, similar to the 'wind-down rule' where I put my house to bed by performing simple tasks like washing up and doing a quick declutter. Now, I've been venturing into the garden to do the same there. Here's why it works so well.
How does it work?
#GardenTok is full of creators eager to share their gardening tips and tricks and it's also where I end up finding a lot of the hacks that I use on a regular basis. A recent scroll took me down the rabbit hole of garden 'evening routines' where creators like @describingolivia, featured above, take time each evening to perform some simple tasks in their garden ahead of the next day.
These tasks, as Olivia explains, include watering the plants, sweeping the patio, putting furniture away and any other chores like cleaning up the grill.
But, why the evening? Well, it marks the end of the day meaning you're unlikely to spend any more time in the garden. It's also considered a better time to water your plants because the weather is cooler, but you still have to be careful not to overwater as it may leave your plants damp overnight.
Here's what happened when I tried it
While I'm not sure how long Olivia spends on her 'night-time routine' for her garden each day, other creators have suggested they carry out 45-minutes or 30-minutes of work.
For me, that's not the kind of time I have to spare. I was eager for something even quicker and decided to set a timer for just 10 minutes to see what I could get done – and it turns out that was plenty of time for some easy reset jobs.
I went on a hunt for any mess that needed tidying up armed with my pruning shears to snip off any deadheads. Then, I went around with my watering can to freshen up the plants with a light water (from the base, not the leaves to prevent fungal diseases from damp).
The same way that I declutter and wipe down surfaces at night to make my home feel fresher every morning, I realized I was achieving the same for my garden. Now, I'm enjoying my outdoor space a lot more as soon as the sun rises where I get to see my efforts from the evening before in full bloom.
It's definitely something I'll keep doing, especially since I don't really have an excuse not to head out there for just 10 minutes. I'll even get outside quickly as the dinner's cooking.
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