you will find wonderful repetitions of your favorite plants in locations that look stunning. However, selective weeding and timely pruning are key. When you are faced with more work than you have time
to accomplish, it is time for tough love in your garden. You certainly want to selectively prune any plants that are about to jettison an avalanche of seeds. One year of letting a pro- lific plant drop its seeds will create seven years of weeding. But removing the entire plant, especially if it doesn’t propa- gate through root systems, may not be necessary. The plant may only need a haircut below the seed heads to ensure less work for you down the road. Any time a weed overshadows a favored plant, simply pruning back the weed at the height of the plant you are trying to save will buy you time until you can front a full assault on the offending weed. Rather than renting a weed whacker, a Japanese saw-tooth sickle will cut even the toughest of stems like butter. Tool manufacturers such as Kusakichi have the construction of gardening tools down to an art, and I implore you to discover the time-saving delights of the right tool for the job. One important exception to the benefits of giving nature
time to express herself is when pernicious invasives have found their way into your garden. Removing invasive plants
such as Tree of Heaven, Japanese Honeysuckle, Purple Loosestrife, Bindweeds, Japanese Stiltgrass, and Canada Thistle (actually native to Eurasia) the moment you see them is your best line of defense. A garden’s best friend is your shadow, and it is much better to haunt your garden with vigi- lance rather than be haunted by a superweed that returns with vengeance year after year. But if your goal is to spend less time in your school garden, is there a way to keep these bul- lies at bay? Fortunately, yes!
Nature abhors a vacuum Just like how a freshly-plowed field invites weeds to grow, the vast spaces between your plants are an invitation for trou- ble. Killing weeds with herbicides is not allowed on school grounds. Besides, herbicides have the nasty tendency to cause harm to your desirable plants without touching the weed seeds. Freshly-exposed soil has thousands of weed seeds that only need exposure to the sun to germinate when you open the ground for planting. What is a time-saving, summer-lov- ing gardener to do? I have discovered four ways to reduce your weeding nightmare: 1) the stale seedbed technique, 2) mulching, 3) planting annuals, and 4) adding decorative boulders.
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