20 Resolutions for 10 Years of Laidback Gardening!

This year, the Lazy Gardener blog celebrates its 10th anniversary. Although the first articles were published in 2014, it was in 2015 that the project really took off. For nearly eight years, my father, Larry Hodgson, accomplished the incredible feat of publishing an article a day. What perseverance and dedication!

Since his death in 2022, the spirit of the Laidback Gardener has endured thanks to a team of enthusiasts. Together, we continue his mission: to make gardening simple, accessible and fun.

Today, several regular and occasional columnists take turns keeping up the pace, supported by a dedicated team responsible for proofreading, layout and website management, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience for readers.

The blog now boasts over 3,500 articles – and a new one is added every day! Our goal is to continue inspiring and supporting you in your quest for simpler gardening for at least another 10 years!

Looking Back… and Forward

When my father launched this blog, he had no idea that it would still be active 10 years later, or that it would gather millions of readers around the world every year. His initial goal was simply to adapt to the evolution of media, moving from traditional media to the web, and to share his passion for the plant world.

I sometimes wonder what this blog will look like in 10 years’ time. The world is changing at breakneck speed, and The Laidback Gardener will have to evolve too. Social networks, videos, artificial intelligence… What will be the next big transformation? And above all, how will we garden in the future?

Be Part of the Adventure!

On this January 1st, do you have any resolution ideas for the Laidback Gardener team? What topics would you like to see addressed? How can we improve your experience on the site? Are there any tools or services you’d like to see to help you garden even more lazily? We value your suggestions and want to hear from you. Together, let’s see what we can accomplish this year of celebration!

Continuing the tradition

Among the traditions Larry cherished were New Year’s resolutions for laidback gardeners. Every year, these simple, practical and inspiring reflections helped the community to approach gardening with more lightness and pleasure.

To mark the 10th anniversary of The Laidback Gardener, we’ve put together a selection of the best laidback gardening resolutions published on the blog over the past decade. Once again, these resolutions invite you to garden less, but better.

Happy gardening and a happy new year to all!

20 Laidback Gardening Resolutions

1. I won’t let gardening become a burden.

Contrary to what many gardeners think, gardening doesn’t have to require a lot of time and effort. We often hear, “I’ll start gardening when I retire, because I don’t have the time.” Yet it’s entirely possible to maintain a landscape in less than two hours a week, even over a large area. Sure, a few weekends in spring require more work, but the rest of the year, there’s no need to spray rose bushes 15 times, weed every week or mow for hours on end. These practices are unnecessary and based on a misunderstanding of gardening.

Plants know how to survive on their own! If you’re constantly struggling to keep a plant alive, or spending an inordinate amount of time on your grounds, it’s time to change your approach. With the right methods, you can achieve the same results with much less effort.

2. I will only use plants adapted to my conditions.

If your garden is in the shade, plant only plants suited to shade. Is the soil always dry? Grow drought-tolerant varieties. If you know your soil is very acidic, limit yourself to plants that tolerate acidic soil. In regions with cold winters, take your hardiness zone into consideration and plant only plants from your zone or lower zones (e.g. if you live in zone 5, grow only plants from zones 1 to 5). Much of this information is clearly indicated on the plant’s nursery label. It’s a good idea to read it carefully before you buy.

3. I’ll check a plant’s future dimensions before planting it.

Most of the pruning done in the garden (a thankless task that could easily be done without) consists of reducing the size of shrubs and trees that are getting too big for the space available. And as soon as you’ve finished pruning, they grow back even more vigorously, forcing you to prune them again. Before buying any woody plant (tree, shrub or conifer), it’s easier to check its potential dimensions and choose one that suits the available space.

4. I’ll replace the most labor-intensive plants with ones that grow almost by themselves.

Bye-bye hybrid tea roses with their need for winter protection, lilac that invades the whole area with its suckers, and Tatarie honeysuckle, often prone to witches’ brooms and requiring several prunings per summer. For this resolution, you could replace them with hardy roses, Preston lilac (which never outgrows suckers) or an open hedge requiring pruning only every 4 or 5 years. And the less work, the better!

5. I’ll remove the plants that are always sick.

Some plants are attacked by bugs or infected by disease every year, forcing you to apply pesticide treatments, often at the risk of your own health (there’s always a risk in applying a pesticide, even an organic one). Remove these plants (hostas eaten by slugs, lilies devoured by lily beetles, phlox attacked by powdery mildew, apple trees affected by scab) and replace them with plants that have no major enemies. And, believe it or not, there are hostas that aren’t eaten by slugs, phlox that aren’t attacked by powdery mildew and apple trees that aren’t affected by scab. As for lilies, the news isn’t so good: they’re all prone to lily beetles. Replace them with daylilies, which have similar flowers but no major health problems.

6. I’ll avoid invasive plants.

Goutweed, lysimacs of all kinds: there are many plants that grow quickly and fast, to the point where they take over your property and become weeds. Don’t plant them, and if you do, get rid of them (hint: every plant needs light to survive, so if you cover an out-of-control plant with a black tarp, it will eventually die without you even having to pull it out).

7. I’ll plant more shrubs and ground cover.

They require much less maintenance than other garden plants. A bed of shrubs growing in a carpet of vegetation requires almost no care and can look absolutely stunning.

8. I’ll set up a wildlife area.

Everyone wants to see birds and butterflies in their gardens… but not everyone realizes that these animals, as well as other less pretty but equally useful ones like toads, bees and bats, can’t survive if we surround our grounds with nothing but lawns. The more variety there is in plant life, the more variety there will be in animal life. So set up flowerbeds and plant trees, conifers and shrubs. Create a small water feature, even if it’s just a bird bath. And why not designate a less visible “wild zone” corner, where you leave room for native wildflowers… and even “weeds”? Many of the most desirable butterflies live only on “weeds”, after all. Another great resolution for the year!

9. I won’t water again unless absolutely necessary.

So much treated water is wasted on gardens… and almost always for nothing! Most plants are perfectly capable of enduring a little drought from time to time (if not, grow plants that can). An established lawn that doesn’t receive rain for a month or more doesn’t die, it just goes into summer dormancy and will green up again when the rains return. In the event of drought, give priority to the most fragile plants (especially container-grown plants, vegetables and any newly planted plants). Most others can easily do without. And please, no watering in direct sunlight, as this only wastes part of your water through evaporation!

10. I will avoid monocultures as much as possible.

Mass planting of specimens of the same plant, whether it’s a lawn composed entirely of Kentucky bluegrass, a whole row of potatoes in the vegetable garden or a bed of the same perennial, is an open invitation to insects and disease, forcing you to carry out treatments that are often costly or, at the very least, time-consuming. It also depletes the soil, forcing you to add fertilizer.

Instead, plant by mixing plants: a mixed bed, for example, or a vegetable garden in squares by mixing plants rather than a traditional vegetable garden in rows, will easily reduce the need for treatments by two-thirds, as there will be few or no insect or disease problems and almost no need for fertilizers. As for the lawn… there’s no law that says it has to be made up of just one variety of grass. Just adding some clover will immediately eliminate almost all insect problems, for example. And if other plants are inserted into the lawn, let them grow. The more variety, the less maintenance.

11. I’ll mulch my plants.

Mulch does so much good for almost any plant. It helps maintain more stable soil moisture, reduces the invasion of weeds and insect pests, keeps the soil looser, protects beneficial insects, eliminates erosion and protects fragile plant roots from the jolts of winter.

12. I will no longer prune for strictly aesthetic reasons.

Removing wilted flowers from a lilac, or pruning a shrub into a ball, square or spiral, are good ways of wasting energy for nothing. Removing the flowers from a lilac gives you absolutely nothing (despite the tenacious belief to the contrary, you won’t even get a single extra flower the following year). And most shrubs take on a beautiful shape quite naturally: why force them into another?

13. I’ll learn to tolerate a less-than-perfect lawn.

The first lawns were simply areas mowed by sheep or cows; they contained grasses, yes, but also yarrow, dandelions, daisies, clover and many other plants. If such a lawn was suitable for the crowned heads of Europe, why are you so demanding? As a reward for greater tolerance, you’ll find that maintenance drops dramatically. Not only are there no more weeds to pull, but a “natural lawn” requires less frequent mowing, suffers less from insects and disease, and requires little or no fertilization.

14. I’ll practice grasscycling.

Not familiar with the term? Grasscycling simply means leaving your grass clippings where they are, rather than picking them up and putting them along the street. Grass clippings decompose quickly, in a day or two, and feed the lawn, making it greener and more resistant to drought. You’ll work less, and your lawn will look just as good.

15. I’ll avoid doing any autumn cleaning.

Plants have evolved to protect themselves from the cold with their own dead leaves. And the best fertilizer for any plant is its own decomposed foliage. When we “clean up” in autumn, we remove their natural winter protection and also their main source of nutrients. Leave the leaves in place in autumn and you’ll see that, come spring, not only will your plants be in better shape than ever, but almost all the “waste” will have decomposed on its own.

16.I won’t be winterizing plants any more.

You’ll discover that most plants don’t need any protection at all, and that they grow and flower perfectly well without the slightest care in autumn. As for plants that die or behave badly without protection, replace them with plants that don’t need the effort. Just imagine the difference this will make in terms of maintenance!

17. I will no longer apply pesticides that are harmful to the environment.

Why use them when there are so many alternatives available these days? Many organic products control insects, diseases and weeds. But we must also learn to accept the presence of some plant damage and rare weeds. A fine resolution! Secondly, only use organic products if you have a very serious problem, because even these products disrupt the environment. Insecticidal soap, for example, although considered organic, doesn’t distinguish between good insects and bad ones. If we let Mother Nature take care of the little things, she almost always intervenes to eliminate the enemies. For example, when an aphid infestation starts, predators like lacewings and ladybugs quickly appear and the problem disappears on its own.

18. I’ll remember that perfection doesn’t exist in the garden.

There’s no such thing as perfection in the garden: there will always be an insect that pierces a leaf or a perennial sprinkled with white. There’s no need to run out and find a pesticide, as the insect is often already gone and the disease is in its final stages. Beneficial insects, on the other hand, may already be at work. When the problem is minor – a few pierced, chewed or yellowed leaves – it often has no long-term consequences. To find out whether it’s worth intervening, apply the “15-step rule”: take 15 steps back and, if the problem isn’t visible, then there’s probably nothing to treat. Leafminers, end-of-season powdery mildew, galls or yellowing of the lower leaves are all “minor” problems that can be ignored.

19. I’ll learn to trust Mother Nature more.

Strangely enough, it’s when you intervene as little as possible in your garden that you often get the best results. It’s sad but true: your plants don’t need you to survive. So, take it easy this year and let Mother Nature take care of your garden. You’ll be surprised how often the “laidback” method is not only the most environmentally friendly, but also the best.

20. I’ll be reading the Laidback Gardener blog assiduously in the new year.

As a final resolution, what better way to keep you informed about the best ways to practice laidback gardening! And there’s one a day, enough to give you a little daily reading!