Richard's Plant Care Tips: Tip for lazy gardeners

Some people are too busy to spend a lot of time on their plants.  Some people just have too many plants and need some tricks to be able to manage.  And yes… some people are just too lazy.

Here is our non-judgmental ‘Lazy Gardener’s guide’ for everyone that has been asking.  A word of warning:  a few of these tips aren’t the ideal way to take care of plants, but if done correctly these can have only a minimal impact on your plants’ health while requiring much less gardening care.  So if you need to maintain a nice collection with limited time, they are worth considering.

1) Choose the right plants – for a lazy gardener this means plants that require infrequent watering and fertilizing and are resistant to pests.  Here are some suggestions:

Snake plant –water only every 2-4 weeks and is tolerant of neglect Pony tail palm – water about once a month Monstera deliciosa – water about every 2-4 weeks   Rubber tree – water about every 2-4 weeks ZZ plant – water about every 3-4 weeks indoors and 1-2 weeks outdoors Cactus and succulents – choose varieties that are resistant to bugs, but there are many options that require watering only every 2-4 weeks and that suit most tastes

snake plant

2) Overpot (but just a little) – putting your plant is a bigger pot, overpotting just a little bit, will reduce the frequency of watering.  Because the soil is wet for longer in a bigger pot, it also increases the risk of overwatering related issues like root rot, so only overpot by 1 or 2 sizes and only do this with plants that can tolerate a more moist soil mix i.e. not recommended for desert cactus varieties or succulents.  This is a trade off between offering ideal conditions for your plants and saving time, so please don’t infer I’m saying this is optimal plant care… it might be the best way for your needs though and sometimes that has to be considered.

3) Use a richer soil mix – similar to using a bigger pot, you can adjust your soil mix so that it retains more water for longer.  Adding more peat moss or coco will reduce watering frequency.  Again this is a trade off to reduce time spent gardening over optimal plant care, so do not go overboard and use too rich a soil mix as this increases the risk of overwatering related issues like root rot.

4) Use a layer of decorative stones on top of your soil – this will slow evaporation and keep moisture in the soil, reducing watering frequency.  Again, keep an eye out for root rot when implementing any measures that reduce watering frequency.

5) choose a location with less light / less heat – plants that grow in cooler locations will need less frequent watering.  Plants that grow more slowly also tend to need less frequent watering.  If you choose plants that do well in lower light conditions you won’t have to water as often.  Of course this does not apply to cactus, who can survive in hot locations in dry soil for long period of time.

6) Use slow release granular fertilizer – in most cases you can apply a small amount to all your plants once every 3 months or so, instead of fertilizing more regularly as you would with most liquid fertilizers.

Got any tips for lazy gardeners ?  Let us know and we will pass them along !