Five minute gardening

Kineta Booker fixes some summer problems and moves into autumn in a matter of minutes.

1. Because of the hot sun and little rain over the past couple of months, I’m spending most of my five-minute gardening allowances watering the garden. If you’re still on water restrictions, focus your attention on only the thirstiest of plants.

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2. Another five-minute job I’m doing at the moment is mulching. If you have a low water supply after little summer rain, mulching will improve water retention, and, my favourite, help suppress weeds!

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3. Through all the wonderful heat of spring and summer, hedges have grown out of control. It’s not a quick job, but you could trim your hedges in a few five-minute blocks. I trim quickly, then go back and tidy up when I have a few more minutes spare.

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4. It only takes a couple of minutes to plant out some broccoli seedlings. Isn’t it amazing how much gardening you can actually do in five minutes?

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5. Delight someone by pulling together your garden surplus and giving it away. It doesn’t take long and it will make someone else’s day.

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6. And, if you happen to be passing your swan plant and see a monarch caterpillar spinning into its chrysalis, take a moment to watch. It’s absolutely amazing.