7 Eco-Friendly Gardening Ideas That Save Time and Effort

One miraculous afternoon in my backyard, I got tired, stopped working, made lemonade, and sat watching the garden for over an hour. I mentally reviewed all the "must-do" tasks commercials sold me for a healthy, low-maintenance landscape. I was done hauling soil bags and fertilizer, policing pests, dragging hoses—feeling like my escape had become a 9-to-5 cubicle job. Once I quit "landscaping," both I and the backyard became happier, healthier, and wiser.

Here are seven gardening tips to make your outdoor life easier and more rewarding.

Save Water

1. Add a Rain Barrel

Setup is easy, and you'll save on water bills—free water! The example here uses an ornamental rain chain, but any downspout can be redirected into a barrel. Use a screen cover to filter debris and keep wildlife out. While you're at it, check hoses for leaks—a dripping hose wastes surprising amounts.

Install time: 20 minutes

2. Add a Water Feature

Any water feature supports wildlife. A fountain or bubbler masks road noise with soothing sound. Fill a birdbath, buy a plug-in fountain, or go solar to avoid electricity.

Install time: 10–20 minutes

Build the Soil

3. Start a Compost Pile

Making your own super-soil is easy. Turn a traditional pile occasionally, or use a compost tumbler you crank as you pass. Compost supplies all nutrients your plants and soil need—even a ¼-inch annual top-dressing on the lawn works wonders. Stop buying bagged fertilizer. Many municipalities offer free compost (in my city, it's rich black gold).

Setup time: 10–40 minutes

4. Add Mulch

Apply 2–3 inches of mulch to ornamental or vegetable beds to retain soil moisture and suppress weeds. (Who wants extra watering and weeding? Not me!) Some cities offer free mulch. If buying bagged, avoid dyed mulches (can leach chemicals) and cypress mulch (often from clear-cut young forests).

Spread time: 20 minutes | Time saved: 20–30 minutes of watering and weeding

Feed the Birds

5. Plant Berry Producers

Attracting birds lets you see your efforts pay off—especially if you garden organically. Plant berry-producing shrubs like southern arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum, zones 2–8), dogwood, serviceberry, chokecherry, and elderberry. These are bird magnets, and with songbird populations declining nationally from pesticide use and habitat loss, even one shrub makes a difference.

Plant one shrub: 10 minutes

6. Plant Insect-Drawing Perennials

While choosing berry plants, add perennials that attract insects—the #1 food source for birds. In the eastern Plains and Midwest, adapted natives work best: liatris, Joe Pye weed, coneflower, sunflower, mountain mint, aster, coreopsis, and milkweed.

Plant three perennials: 10 minutes

Rethink the Lawn

7. Mow Less and Ditch the Chemicals

Fire your lawn service. Loud equipment contributes to hearing loss, restricts blood flow (hypertension risk), pollutes at many times the rate of driving a car, and spills millions of gallons of gasoline yearly—not to mention 23 million tons of clippings landfilled that could be compost.

Mow twice monthly (less in summer heat) and let grass grow longer. Deeper roots and shaded soil increase moisture retention. Consider an electric or reel mower (modern reel mowers have come a long way).

Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are toxic to wildlife, pets, kids, and adults—linked to autoimmune diseases, birth defects, and learning disabilities. Avoid them.

Time saved: 1 hour

By my sundial, that's under an hour of eco-friendly work—especially if you keep the mower stored and mulch your beds. A lemonade sounds perfect right now, even though I barely broke a sweat.

Tell us: What are your eco-friendly gardening tips?

More: Why Native Gardening is So Much Better