Why Victorian Gardeners Saved Everything

 

A walk through a Victorian garden would reveal far more than flowers and vegetables. Nearly every object had a purpose, and almost nothing that could be reused was casually thrown away. Broken pots, fireplace ashes, eggshells, old barrels, rainwater, fallen leaves, manure, worn-out clothing, even human hair—what modern gardeners often regard as waste was viewed as another useful resource waiting for its next job.

This wasn't merely because people were poorer than we are today. It was because Victorian gardeners understood a simple truth: the garden itself wastes nothing. Nature continually recycles. Fallen leaves become soil. Dead branches become food for fungi. Animal waste nourishes new growth. The wise gardener learned to imitate that cycle rather than interrupt it.

Gardens Were Expensive to Maintain

Victorian estates often employed skilled gardeners, but even modest households devoted considerable effort to producing food and flowers. Fertilizers, pots, glass, and tools represented real investments. Imported plants from Asia, South America, and Africa were often costly and difficult to replace.

Saving materials stretched the household budget while improving the garden.

An old wooden crate became a cold frame. A cracked clay flowerpot covered a tender seedling against late frost. Empty bottles protected cuttings. Broken bricks lined pathways or improved drainage beneath pots.

Nothing useful was discarded simply because it looked worn.

Ashes Were Garden Gold

Every home heated with wood or coal produced ashes.

Wood ashes supplied valuable potassium and calcium, making them useful around fruit trees, vegetable gardens, and flower borders when applied carefully. They also helped sweeten acidic soils.

Fine ashes scattered around susceptible plants sometimes discouraged slugs and snails, though every Victorian gardener knew rain quickly ended that protection.

Coal ashes were often reserved for improving heavy clay pathways or creating firmer surfaces rather than enriching planting beds.

Today's gardener may empty a fireplace into the trash. A Victorian gardener saw several future gardening projects.

Every Drop of Water Mattered

Rain barrels stood beside homes, greenhouses, sheds, and stables.

Soft rainwater was prized because it lacked the dissolved minerals often found in well water. Tender greenhouse plants, orchids, ferns, camellias, and seedlings frequently performed better when watered with collected rainwater.

Large cisterns stored thousands of gallons in some estates, allowing gardens to survive dry spells long before municipal irrigation systems existed.

Water conservation was simply common sense.

Fallen Leaves Never Went to Waste

Autumn leaves represented one of the greatest gifts of the year.

Instead of hauling them away, Victorian gardeners piled them into leaf heaps or enclosed bins where they slowly decomposed into rich leaf mold.

Leaf mold improved nearly every kind of soil by increasing moisture retention while encouraging beneficial fungi and countless soil organisms.

Many estates maintained permanent leaf piles that were continually replenished each autumn and harvested several years later.

The patience required would surprise many modern gardeners.

Broken Pots Found New Life

Clay flowerpots rarely remained intact forever.

Broken pieces served dozens of purposes.

Curved shards covered drainage holes in containers. Larger fragments edged flower beds or stabilized stepping stones. Smaller pieces improved drainage beneath potted plants.

Even cracked pots often continued serving as homes for bulbs, alpine plants, or rooted cuttings.

Modern gardeners frequently discard containers that still have years of usefulness remaining.

Kitchen Scraps Fed the Garden

Long before the word "composting" became fashionable, kitchen waste returned to the soil.

Vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, tea leaves, stale bread, spoiled produce, and eggshells were commonly buried, composted, or fed to animals whose manure later fertilized the garden.

Nothing containing valuable nutrients was intentionally lost.

Victorian gardeners recognized that today's kitchen scraps became next year's vegetables.

Old Clothing Protected Plants

Worn-out garments rarely ended their usefulness.

Cotton cloth shaded tender seedlings.

Old blankets protected delicate shrubs during severe freezes.

Burlap sacks wrapped newly planted trees or shielded evergreens from drying winter winds.

Strips of cloth tied plants to stakes without damaging stems.

Even worn stockings served as soft plant ties.

Every fabric found another season of service.

Animal Manure Was Carefully Collected

Stable manure formed the backbone of Victorian gardening.

Horse manure heated hotbeds for raising early vegetables. Cow manure enriched vegetable gardens. Sheep manure provided concentrated nutrients. Poultry manure strengthened compost piles.

Even pigeon manure, surprisingly rich in nutrients, was carefully collected by gardeners fortunate enough to have dovecotes.

Nothing from the barnyard was considered waste.

Hair, Wool, and Bones Returned to the Soil

Some Victorian practices seem unusual today.

Human hair swept from barber shops sometimes found its way into gardens, where it slowly decomposed and added nitrogen. Wool rags occasionally lined hanging baskets because they retained moisture. Crushed bones supplied phosphorus years before commercial bone meal became widely available.

Fish remains buried beneath fruit trees and vegetables added nutrients while recycling what might otherwise have been discarded.

These practices reflected observation rather than novelty.

Seeds Were Saved Year After Year

Victorian gardeners routinely saved seeds from their finest plants.

They selected vegetables that showed the best flavor, strongest growth, earliest harvest, or greatest disease resistance.

Flowers producing especially beautiful blooms were carefully harvested after seed matured.

Over generations, many families unknowingly developed strains uniquely adapted to their local climate and soil.

Saving seed wasn't merely economical—it improved the garden itself.

They Thought Like Stewards

Perhaps the greatest lesson Victorian gardeners offer isn't any individual technique.

It is their attitude.

They viewed themselves as caretakers rather than consumers.

The garden was not a place where resources disappeared. It was a place where materials changed forms. Leaves became soil. Manure became vegetables. Ashes became fertilizer. Rain became flowers. Broken tools found new purposes. Time itself became part of the gardening process.

That philosophy rewarded patience instead of speed and ingenuity instead of convenience.

Modern gardening certainly benefits from remarkable advances in plant breeding, irrigation, tools, and pest control. Yet the Victorian habit of asking, "Can this serve another purpose?" remains as practical today as it was 150 years ago.

Perhaps the next time you stand beside your compost pile holding a bucket of leaves, a cracked flowerpot, or a handful of fireplace ashes, you'll be following a tradition that generations of gardeners would recognize immediately.

They understood something we've sometimes forgotten: in a truly productive garden, very little is ever really thrown away.

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Gardening Before Plastic

Before polyethylene pots, plastic mulch, nursery trays, drip tubing, and five-gallon buckets became as common as weeds, gardeners relied on materials that the land itself provided. Their gardens flourished just the same. They solved problems with clay, wood, woven baskets, straw, stone, iron, and patience. Looking back at those methods reminds us that successful gardening depends more on observation and stewardship than on manufactured convenience.

Walk through the ruins of an old homestead or visit a nineteenth-century farm museum, and one thing becomes immediately obvious. There is almost no plastic to be found because, of course, none existed. Yet families raised vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, and orchards that fed households and communities year after year.

Modern plastic has brought undeniable advantages. It is lightweight, inexpensive, waterproof, and remarkably durable. But it has also changed how we think about gardening. Many of us now assume that every gardening task requires another plastic pot, another roll of landscape fabric, another irrigation fitting, or another storage bin.

For thousands of years, gardeners proved otherwise.

Clay Pots Were Built to Last

Terracotta flowerpots have been around for centuries. Archaeologists have uncovered clay planting vessels from Roman gardens and even earlier civilizations.

Unlike thin plastic nursery pots that often crack after years in the sun, well-made clay pots could serve several generations if handled carefully. Their porous walls allowed excess moisture to evaporate, reducing the risk of waterlogged roots.

Gardeners expected these pots to age gracefully. A chipped rim or weathered surface simply reflected years of faithful service.

Baskets Carried the Harvest

Before plastic harvest baskets appeared, gardeners gathered vegetables in woven willow baskets, split oak baskets, grapevine baskets, or sturdy wooden boxes.

Each material had advantages.

• Open weaving allowed air to circulate around freshly picked vegetables.
• Lightweight willow made carrying easier.
• Strong wooden crates protected delicate fruits.
• Worn baskets could often be repaired rather than discarded.

Many families owned only a handful of baskets, yet they lasted for decades.

Wood Solved Countless Problems

Wood was everywhere in the traditional garden.

Garden stakes came from straight saplings.

Bean poles were cut from nearby woods.

Cold frames were built from rough lumber and recycled window sashes.

Raised beds, where they existed, were constructed from durable rot-resistant woods rather than manufactured composites.

Even watering cans sometimes included wooden handles carefully shaped by hand.

When a board eventually rotted, it returned naturally to the soil instead of lingering for centuries.

Watering Required Planning

Modern hoses stretch hundreds of feet through today's gardens, but many earlier gardeners depended upon rain barrels, wells, hand pumps, or nearby streams.

Water often traveled in galvanized buckets or wooden yokes carried across the shoulders.

Because hauling water required real effort, gardeners became exceptionally careful about conserving moisture.

Mulch was applied generously.

Soil was enriched with compost.

Cultivation broke surface crusts that encouraged evaporation.

Beds were designed to capture rainfall instead of shedding it.

The result was often surprisingly efficient water use.

Natural Mulches Did More Than Suppress Weeds

Today rolls of black plastic mulch cover countless vegetable fields.

Earlier generations relied on materials they could gather nearby:

• Straw
• Leaves
• Pine needles
• Marsh hay
• Grass clippings
• Wood shavings
• Sawdust
• Seaweed in coastal regions

These materials suppressed weeds while gradually feeding the soil as they decomposed.

Instead of becoming waste, they became part of the next growing season.

Glass Protected Tender Plants

Long before plastic row covers and floating fabric, gardeners protected plants with glass.

Individual glass cloches shielded young seedlings from frost.

Cold frames trapped warmth during winter.

Greenhouses, though expensive, used glass panes supported by wooden frames.

These structures demanded more care than modern plastics, but many remained in service for generations.

Some Victorian greenhouses are still standing today.

Metal Tools Became Family Heirlooms

A forged hoe or spade represented a real investment.

Handles eventually wore smooth from decades of use.

Iron heads might receive new handles several times throughout their lives.

Instead of replacing tools every few seasons, gardeners sharpened them, repaired them, and handed them to the next generation.

Some antique hoes still work as well today as they did a century ago.

Seed Saving Eliminated Disposable Packaging

Today's seed packets are convenient, but earlier gardeners commonly saved their own seed.

Seeds dried in paper envelopes, cloth bags, small glass jars, or folded newspaper.

Many families carefully labeled varieties that had adapted to their local climate over many years.

Passing seeds from one generation to another became both a gardening practice and a family tradition.

Compost Was the Original Recycling System

Without plastic garbage bags or municipal yard waste collection, little organic material left the property.

Kitchen scraps.

Leaves.

Animal manure.

Crop residue.

Wood ashes.

Everything useful eventually found its way back into the soil.

The compost pile quietly transformed waste into fertility without requiring a single manufactured container.

Gardens Produced Less Waste

One overlooked difference between old gardens and modern ones is the amount of trash they generated.

Today a single season may leave behind cracked nursery pots, broken irrigation fittings, torn landscape fabric, fertilizer bags, empty chemical containers, seed trays, and worn-out plastic tools.

Earlier gardens certainly created waste, but much of it naturally decomposed or could be repaired.

Broken clay became drainage material.

Wood became firewood.

Iron was reforged.

Glass was reused.

Very little was simply thrown away.

What We Can Learn Today

This isn't an argument for abandoning every modern convenience. Plastic has made gardening more accessible, more affordable, and often more productive.

Still, older gardening methods remind us of something valuable.

When every material had to be repaired, reused, or carried by hand, gardeners thought differently about resources. They built healthier soil because replacing it wasn't an option. They valued durable tools because buying new ones wasn't easy. They composted because wasting fertility made no sense.

Perhaps the greatest lesson from gardening before plastic is that a successful garden has never depended on synthetic materials. It has always depended on healthy soil, careful observation, and the steady work of attentive hands.

Modern gardeners have remarkable tools at their disposal. But sometimes the oldest methods still prove to be the most enduring.

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How I started worm composting, and you can, too.

 

First of all, what is worm composting? I'm glad you asked. It’s the practice of intentionally enlisting the aid of earthworms in composting your organic yard and kitchen waste to use in your garden.

If you have an open compost pile or bin in your garden, earthworms have likely found their way to it.

As I wrote in “The Not-So-Magical-Experience of Composting”, the compost pile is “like a big bash going on down the street, nearby residents and passersby take notice. Flies breeze by and drop off bacteria. Single-cell creeps with hardly half a brain between them arrive and begin to cling. Fun-guys (fungi) appear from nowhere and make themselves at home. Mites pick at this and that, including other guests. Millipedes stroll and stroll and stroll, sampling a bit of everything. Sowbugs eat stuff mashed on the floor. Snails and slugs, never socially adept, slime their way among the crowd munching left-overs. Spiders entrap and roll the unsuspecting. Centipedes and beetles knock over spiders and other party-goers. Earthworms work their way around, and somehow everything comes out right from their ends."

I never gave earthworms much thought. They just showed up, and I expected that they always would.

This year I bought a couple of Vego 17" Tall 9 In 1 Modular Metal Raised Garden Bed Kits. With them came a promotional gift package containing two of their In-Ground Worm Composters. 

 

I installed one in an unplanted garden bed. At once, I began adding some soil and kitchen scraps to the bin. That’s how it started.

One can’t have a worm composter without worms. Being the impatient fellow that I am, I bought a bag containing 500 red wigglers from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm. They arrived safely and earlier than expected. They are now happily housed in their new digs. (I guess they’re happy. They’re not actually smiling like Uncle Jim’s website shows. But who can tell with worms?) Now I divide our fruit and vegetable kitchen scraps between my worm composter, compost barrel and “swamp water” composter. (The “swamp water” composter is another story.)

In short order, I expect the worms to do their job decomposing the scraps. The compost should feed the garden bed, and the worms might wander around improving the soil.

So far, I recommend the Vego In-Ground Worm Composter. It’s a simple contraption compared to some others I’ve seen on the market. But I started thinking that there must be an even cheaper way.

It seems to me that one could use a simple plastic laundry basket with a lid, remove handles, partially sink it in the ground, then add soil, scraps and worms. The lid, I believe, would be essential to keep neighborhood cats and raccoons out. It might not even keep the raccoons out unless the lid was secured somehow. 

 

I’ll try it myself when I need another worm composter, but if you try it before I do, let me know how it works for you.

By the way! Vego Garden and Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm do not know I’m posting this article. They certainly haven’t paid me for this mention, nor do I expect them to. Rest assured that this is entirely honest and unsolicited.

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Vertical Gardening In Used Shipping Containers

 

Vegetable and Specialty Crop News published recently an article by Clint Thompson, Vertical Farming: Auburn Using Shipping Containers to Provide Produce. 

"The Auburn University College of Agriculture is using vertical farming to provide certain produce for its students year-round. Auburn students are helping to grow food for Auburn students.

"This unique way of farming doesn’t involve a field or a greenhouse but a shipping container. The same container used on tractor-trailer trucks uses LED lights to provide the necessary light energy for the crops to grow. There are no windows. Scientists also control the water and nutrient supply, so the plants receive just enough but not too much.

"The result is a quicker and more sustainable way to grow produce." Read more here.

It makes sense. The shipping container allows gardeners/farmers/scientists to create a controlled growing  environment. The vagaries of weather are avoided. It's not unlike growing in a greenhouse, but without sunlight. 

It got me started thinking about how some home gardeners could start such a project of their own. The one at Auburn University is relatively well-funded, so an imaginative home gardener would have to adapt the "vertical farm" to their own situation and budget. For example, used shipping containers are readily available online. Basic, well-used containers in 20' and 40' lengths cost about the same. The vertical structures inside could be made of shipping pallets suspended with chains, lined with plastic sheeting and filled with soil. Water could be supplied with drip irrigation, and recycled through catch basins beneath.

It's an idea that an enterprising gardener might want to pursue.

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7 Tips For Saving Water In Your Garden

During the hot, sometimes dry days of summer, the realization hits – often in the form of a water bill – that we should be cutting back on water use. But how? We check for dripping faucets, toilets that keep running, avoid washing the car, reducing time in the shower, or putting less water in the bath. Those are good things to do, but perhaps the answer is in our own backyards. Yes, and front yards, too. If we maintain any type of lawn or garden, we probably use more water there than anywhere else in the house.

Some solutions to problems may be immediate. Many require planning. Act now while your last water bill is fresh on your mind, and you’re sufficiently motivated.

Here are 7 tips for saving water in your garden.

1. Water less frequently. “Well, duh!”, you might say. Fact is, though, most lawns, gardens and ornamental plants do not need to be watered every day. Instead of watering every day, water every other day. That could cut your outdoor water use in half. Allowing the soil to drain and feel dry to the touch before watering again is usually better for your plants, too. Mildew and root rot are usually associated with over-watering, so watering less may help to avoid plant diseases. Lawn grasses can undergo some drought stress, and still bounce back when rain returns. You can follow this tip today; it requires no planning.
2. Recycle water. If you use a sprinkler system, place containers strategically to catch some of it for reuse. Collect rain water in rain barrels to siphon off or dip into later. There’s no sense in letting free water go to waste.
3. Plant a rain garden. Rather than let perfectly good water run into drains, divert it into a rain garden specially designed as a basin to retain it. Best plant choices should include those that adapt to bogs, but will also tolerate brief dry periods.
4. Mulch around your plants. This will immediately reduce soil exposure to the drying rays of sun. Mulch choices are many. Bark, wood chips, straw, hay, and grass clippings are popular. Select the one that looks best for your application. Neither does this require planning. Start today. FYI, Ruth Stout was a major influence in the organic gardening movement who taught the benefits of mulch. If you’ve never read her books and articles, you should.
5. Garden in raised beds or containers. By doing so, you will irrigate targeted areas rather than broadly, potentially saving water. There’s no need to water between vegetable rows and on paved drives and walkways.
6. Install drip irrigation. This is especially appropriate for raised beds and container gardening. Containers, in particular, are prone to drying more quickly. Here again, drip irrigation targets specific areas. A simple system can be quite inexpensive when compared to what you’ll spend on watering. Drip irrigation systems make use of tiny plastic emitters which dispense small amounts of water right where you need it most. An emitter might release as little as ½ gallon per hour, maybe 1 or 2 gallons per hour. PER HOUR! The savings is significant.
7. Substitute drought-tolerant plants for the water-hungry species in your landscape. This doesn’t mean you are limited to cacti and succulents. A host of trees, shrubs, drought-tolerant perennials and ground covers are available for your garden. Look for them.

Speaking of ground covers, many are awesome substitutes for water-hungry lawn grasses. Mondo and liriope, low-growing junipers and euonymus are a few. Some tolerate foot traffic; some don’t. Few lend themselves to heavy use, such as games of badminton and foot races. But if you want to cover larger areas with something other than grass, and save water, consider ground cover plants.

Follow these simple tips for saving water in your garden. You'll save money, too!

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FAQ: What Is Recycled Poly Lumber?

Recycled poly (plastic) lumber, also known as RPL, is a product made from recovered plastic which looks like lumber and can be used as a wood substitute.  There are many applications for which RPL can be used.  RPL is increasingly used for fencing, railings, decking, flooring, retaining walls, shipping pallets, park benches and picnic tables, playground equipment, sign posts, and even for dock pilings and seawalls.  We at GoGardenNow.com include bird houses and bird feeders constructed of recycled poly lumber among our product offerings in our eBay store. 

There are several different types of recycled plastic lumber available.  The type used in our products is a high-density polyethylene, the same material found in plastic milk jugs.  Other types may include additional materials in the mix such as thermoplastic, sawdust, fiberglass, rubber, concrete, or even steel reinforcing rods.

Recycled plastic lumber has distinct advantages over wood.  It is nontoxic, nonporous, and lasts longer than wood, unless it is one of the types that contains sawdust.  RPL is moisture resistant and does not rot, therefore it does not require maintenance with sealants or preservatives.  It is chemical resistant.  It does not crack or splinter like wood.  Painting is unnecessary because the plastic is colored throughout, and the colors never fade.  Insects will not eat it, and it does not absorb bacteria or other pathogens.  As you can see, RPL is maintenance free.  Furthermore, RPL is flexible, and can be shaped with common wood-working tools.
By recycling plastics into poly lumber, wood and plastic waste in landfills is reduced.

You can feel good about purchasing bird houses and feeders constructed of recycled poly lumber, knowing that you are buying eco-friendly products that require little or no maintenance.

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Recycle Your Christmas Tree To Keep On Giving

According to the Christian liturgical calendar, Christmas only begins on December 25, lasting through January 5.  There are twelve entire days to celebrate.  Then the Feast of Epiphany is celebrated immediately, remembering the Wise Men.  What a great way to banish the after-Christmas blues!

With Christmas officially ended, you might be wondering what to do with your Christmas tree.  Rather than pile it in a sad curbside heap destined for the landfill, recycle it for the happy benefit of others.  Here are a few ideas.  Your options may vary depending on your locality and circumstances.

1.  Have a bonfire and invite friends to gather around and sing.  But you'll need more than a dried Christmas tree to keep it going.  Unless you add some material with longer burn times, you won't make it through the first verse of We Three Kings.  Some will argue that burning your tree is not environmentally responsible, but judging from the weather forecast for the next couple of weeks, we could use a little warming.

2.  Many municipalities and businesses establish collection points where they accept your tree.  Some have machines set up, process your tree on the spot, and return it to you as a bag of mulch for your garden or compost bin.  Others take the trees to a permanent facility for chipping and use the finished material in parks and playgrounds.

3.  Provide shelter for wildlife by toting your tree to the back of your property and leaving it there.  Birds and small mammals will appreciate the cover it provides.  For good measure, you may hang fruit and bird feeders from the boughs to attract your avian friends.  Remember, this is a time for feasting.

4.  Cut branches off the trunk and use them in your perennial garden to help support taller plants such as delphiniums.  Position them so they form arches.  Your perennials will grow through the branches.

5.  Boughs can also be used to protect tender plants from cold weather.  Positioning them so that they form arches, straw and dried leaves can be laid on top until spring thaw.

6.   If your circumstances do not permit you try options 3 through 6 above, check with a community garden project to see if they could use your tree for those purposes

7. Submerge it in your pond or lake.  The sunken tree will provide shelter and attract food for many species.  Some municipalities collect trees and sink hundreds of them into public lakes to create fish habitat.

8.  If you live near the sea, check with your local beach authorities to see if they use old Christmas trees for erosion control.  Many do.
 
9.  Similarly, recycled Christmas trees may be used along lakes and rivers to prevent shoreline and river bank erosion.

I'm sure there are more ways to recycle Christmas trees than these, but I hope this presents you with some options you hadn't thought about before.

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Conserve Water With A Rain Garden

Water conservation has been on almost everyone's mind for many years. When I was a kid, my parents would remind me to "turn off the faucet all the way! Money doesn't grow on trees!" A more recent concern is that water may run off to where it isn't so easily accessible.

In an effort to help rain water soak into the ground instead of flowing from pavement to the sea, many municipalities require that new commercial developments construct "retention ponds." Intentions may be good, but those things are expensive, dangerous and ugly. Located on high-priced real estate and usually surrounded by chain link fences for safety/liability reasons, they look like marshy dumps filled with plastic bags, styrofoam cups, disposable diapers and whatever else is washed downhill.

How much better it would be for homeowners to take matters into their own hands and construct rain gardens. Rain gardens are nothing more than shallow depressions in the yard located near driveways or roofs to collect water runoff. Planted with moisture-loving plants, they become attractive features in the landscape that serve a good environmental purpose. They can even attract wildlife. Rain gardens are low-maintenance, too.

Here is how to go about it; you can begin any time of year. Choose a site where water would naturally shed: a bit downhill from a downspout or roof, air conditioning unit, driveway or walk. You may direct water in the right direction with drain tubing or a very shallow swale. In my opinion, rain gardens near homes should be 15 feet or more away from the foundation. Exposure to full sun is desirable, but not necessary.

Plan the size of the rain garden by drawing the contour of the area with marking paint. If you need to make changes, you can edit your work by erasing the marks with your foot when the paint has dried.

Size is not very important. Adapt it to the space available. Approximately 25 square feet is okay; 100 square feet is fine; larger is better.

When you are satisfied with the contour, remove the sod and construct a shallow depression. The sides should slope gradually. You may add a few inches of soil as a low berm around the edge of the down-hill side to prevent water from escaping.

Keep in mind that you aren't constructing a pond, so it need not be very deep; 6 inches to 8 inches deep is sufficient. You don't need to install a liner, either. The garden need not be constantly wet; the idea is for rain water to soak into the soil, not to stand indefinitely. If, however, you wish to form a bog garden, you can do that by digging the depression a bit deeper.

Choose plants that like moist soil. Native grasses, sedges, perennials and small woody shrubs are ideal. Many native plants are recognized for their ornamental value. Sometimes they even establish themselves naturally! But non-native plants are good, too. Whether to weed or not is your choice.

An added advantage of a rain garden is that it doesn't require mowing. HooRAY!!! That much less to do. Just mow around it and go on.

Maintenance is minimal. Trimming brown stalks in early spring will keep your garden tidy and allow new growth to sprout unhindered.

If you would like to see what a rain garden looks like before you begin construction, check with nearby nurseries, botanical gardens and nature centers. Since rain gardens are becoming quite popular lately, you shouldn't have far to travel. For more precise information, resources are available on the internet.

Your new rain garden will enable you to conserve water, enhance your gardening experience, beautify your home, provide habitat for wildlife, and maybe even reduce the time you spend maintaining your landscape. It's a great solution.

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