Summer Laziness aka I Hate Watering

Summer is officially in full swing.  Bringing with it lazy afternoons, lemonade, relaxation.  And a brand new air conditioner that stopped working, multiple service visits, four nights sleeping the basement, an electrician and a new hole in the basement ceiling.  But that is a story for another day.  This is a happy summer post.

Anyway one of the things I love about summer is enjoying the garden and landscaping on maintenance mode and not planting/tons of work mode.

Ahhhh….pretty flowers and delicious vegetables.   But for the past couple of years I have struggled with keeping all the potted plants hydrated.  Every afternoon when I come home they look wilted.  And so I then had to water them everyday.  This gets really old and honestly makes me wish for a hard freeze in the beginning of September.

If was really dedicated I could install a drip irrigation system for all the plants.  But that takes too much work and planning. Next idea please.

Mulch helps with water conservation….but- while perfect for all the landscaping,  a little boring for the pots.  Being on the deck they needed some pizzazz.  I thought about polished river rock you can buy in the mesh bags in the craft stores. But for a couple bucks for a small bag, it could get expensive. 

So we bought two bags of marble chips at Home Depot.  Under $7 total and I think they bring a modern aspect to all the potted plants while conserving water.  Observe-

Before:

After:

When we bought the rock, it was covered in dust and grit.  So I rinsed it in a shallow pot with drainage holes like I was panning for gold.  The rock looked so much better with a bath, and then I set it on the top of all the dirt.  Helpful hint- if you are going to work with landscape rock, wear gloves.  I did not and it really scratched up my natural nails.

Since adding the layer of rock, the soil has not been completely parched on a daily basis and I have been able to reduce my watering.  It was the a trifecta project of cheap, easy and quick but hopefully will have a positive impact on my plants and my sanity.  Unless someone wants to install drip irrigation on the deck.  Any takers?