Gardening For Busy Moms

Doing any hobby with kids can be a struggle. Gardening is a great hobby to have with kids until they want to pull all your plants up and walk through your garden beds. Not to mention how busy you are as a mom! Here is what has helped me stay sane gardening as a busy mom with my kids.

1. Start Small and Simple

Keep it manageable by starting with a small garden. You don’t need a large yard or a complex setup. Focus on a few plants that are easy to care for and don’t take up too much time.

• Container Gardening: Use pots or containers for herbs, vegetables, or flowers. You can plant a lot of plants in a small space and pots can be moved around or bring them indoors if necessary.
• Raised Beds: They require less bending and weeding, making them more accessible and easier to maintain, and will hopefully keep you kiddos out of walking on your plants.

2. Choose Low-Maintenance Plants

Choose plants that don’t require constant attention and are forgiving of occasional neglect. Some options include:

• Perennials: These plants come back year after year, so you don’t need to replant them each season. Examples include hostas, daylilies, lavender, and coneflowers.
• Succulents: These require very little water and attention, and they’re great for containers or indoor plants
• Herbs: Plants like mint, rosemary, thyme, and oregano are hardy and can thrive even with minimal care.
• Drought-Tolerant Plants: If you don’t have a lot of time for watering, go for plants like lavender, zinnias and salvia that can handle dry spells.

3. Plan Your Garden for Minimal Maintenance

• Mulch: Apply a layer of mulch around your plants to keep weeds in check, conserve moisture, and reduce the time spent on watering.
• Self-Watering Containers: These are perfect if you tend to forget watering. They help keep your plants hydrated for longer.
• Drip Irrigation: Set up a simple drip irrigation system to ensure your plants get the right amount of water without requiring constant attention. This is key for me because I have a very large garden, but don’t have the time to consistently water. We also like to get away for the summers. Having drip irrigation allows me to leave and not worry about my plants getting watered.

4. A Little Everyday

To avoid feeling overwhelmed, you can plant in stages:

• Seasonal Planting: Start with spring or summer flowers that bloom early in the season, and then add plants later in the year for continued interest.
• Succession Planting: For veggies, plant in batches (e.g., plant a new set of crops every few weeks). This helps spread out the harvest and keeps you from having a flood of produce all at once.

5. Involve Your Kids

• Fairy Gardens have been a game changer for my gardens. In the spring I get a pot, fairy garden supplies from the dollar store, and plants from the nursery. My daughters get to pick out the flowers and when my daughter wants to pull all my plants tell her to pick the flowers from her fairy garden. It is a hit all summer long. I have a whole blog post about it HERE.
• If your kids are old enough, involve them in the gardening process. Kids can water plants, plant seeds, or help with harvesting. This can turn gardening into a fun family activity and lighten your workload! It is also fun to plant things the kids can snack on like snap peas, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers.

6. Use Low-Care, Easy-to-Grow Vegetables

If you’re interested in growing food but don’t have the time to dedicate to it, focus on easy-to-grow vegetables:

• Tomatoes (especially cherry varieties) are relatively low maintenance.
• Leafy greens like spinach, kale, and lettuce grow quickly and can be harvested multiple times.
• Sugar Snap Peas Planted in the spring and the perfect snack.
• Peppers and herbs (such as basil and parsley) are easy to grow in pots and need minimal care.

If you want so more ideas I have a whole post on plants to grow for lazy/busy gardeners HERE.

7. Automate Tasks Where Possible

• Time-Saving Tools: Invest in gardening tools that help speed up tasks, like a garden weeder, a multi-tool that does several jobs at once, or a lightweight watering can.

Pre-Planned Gardens Schedule: Have a weekly schedule so you know what to do and nothing gets forgotten. Mine is
Monday- Plant
Tuesday- Fertilize
Wednesday-Weed
Thursday- Harvest

8. Make It Enjoyable

Gardening should be an enjoyable activity, not another task on your to-do list. Here are some ways to make it more fun:

• Design Your Space: Create a space where you enjoy spending time, even if it’s just a small corner of your backyard or balcony. Add a chair to sit in and admire your garden.
• Garden in Small Time Slots: If you only have 15 minutes, you can still do something productive, like deadheading flowers or watering a few plants.

9. Maximize Your Time

Set a Timer: Spend a set amount of time on gardening tasks each day or week, even if it’s just 10-15 minutes. It will help you stay on track without feeling overwhelmed.

Quick Gardening Projects for Busy Moms:

• Cut Flower Gardens: Cut Flower Gardens are the best because you have beautiful flowers and whether or not you cut them you will still get to enjoy them and not be wasteful. I have some great cut flower garden plants HERE
• Herb Garden: Grow herbs like basil, mint, or thyme in containers by your kitchen window. They’ll be ready when you need them for cooking and are super easy to take care of. This project can be done in a pot or full on garden. 

Gardening is a joy to have in your life and to share with others. You will have so much joy in your garden. Grow food to heal your body and grow flowers to heal your soul.

Beth