I was thinking about this today as I worked and worked in my garden, weeding the borders. Feel sure that there must be a more efficient way of doing it, was thinking of using weed suppressing fabric at the foot of the fence,spreading over a foot or so, but of course I thought that after I'd weeded and spread mulch, and so that might be a job for next year. I would love to be able to sit and relax in the garden, but there is always so much to do.

I've found that choosing mainly low maintenance perennial plants and shrubs that take care of themselves works best. Laying thick layers of bark has massively kept the weeds down and once plants are established there is less room for weeds anyway. Bulbs are great as I always forget where I planted them and when they pop up its like gardening by magic! I chance my luck with introducing a few new plants each year which keeps me interested and I garden in short bursts when I can and when our lovely weather permits. The more you can do in the Spring pays dividends as you can then enjoy your garden in the summer months and beyond.

Keep it wild.

It will become a natural habitat.

Just do what you can.

Don't be a tidy Gardener & agonise too much.

It is a Garden not a Drawing Room.

Course, part of the reason my garden never looks tidy is the seductive browsing on Houzz. Now if I could only finish my Sunday coffee and actually go and DO something !!!!

Weekly? Oh, how I wish it were only weekly. I'm out there nearly every day culling the three-cornered leek that has reappeared as a thick blanket despite me culling it in the first spring I was here, in my new house, then finding it had reappeared hugely aggressively last year and now, in my third spring, it's even thicker and even more widespread - and is now not only in the flower beds but also in the lawn, thick along the edge, scattered within it. Front and back. It takes about two hours to clear about a square yard - digging under the bulbs; banging off the (very good, I've been told) soil in which there are always several earthworms which I need to hang on to (obviously); then picking out the tiniest bulbs left behind. I don't think I can ever finish it this year - as happened last year - which means the problem will go on for decades. I don't really have the time (I need to work, I need a life beyond digging and clearing). The only solution I can think of is to bring in help but my budget won't allow that. I value having lawn so paving it over isn't an option. I will have less planting space, which will eventually mean less weeding, but it's not something I can do right now - I've too much to do to bring the indoors up to date.

I disagree with Jo DP. The previous owners had a keep it wild policy and now I have this big problem with a massively invasive plant. And, yes, I have tried using it in recipes - it really isn't worth the effort of keeping it under control (to have a limited supply). I'm an experienced and adventurous cook and three-cornered leek is an overrated ingredient, even though it's free and in my garden.

I agree with a lot of the posts here! I have a large garden and there is always something to do. My main tips are:

1 Avoid pots - pretty, but the endless watering is time-consuming

2 In flower beds plant ground cover such as Creeping Jenny; a colourful perennial which keeps weeds down and can be easily spread by ripping pieces off and planting elsewhere

3 Use autumn leaves as free mulch to keep weeds down

4 Forgive me, but buy a good long-lasting weed-killer for pebbled driveways, 6-monthly treatments should be adequate

5 Pay someone local to help with bigger jobs like trees and hedges

Other than that, an hour a week, with or without a glass of wine, should keep on top of things! :-)

Now, that is a very good idea. Thank you Vanadis. I will definitely give it a try. Like you, I get bored but I also suffer from the "just that one there" or "just one more clump" when digging up the increasingly encroaching three cornered leek. To have a timer telling me to stop - sounds ideal.

I have recently moved into a new house that is need of complete renovation. The garden (medium/small) is an overgrown wilderness with sagging fences, strewn with concrete slabs and shrubs that have grown rampant. As I was sitting on the broken steps contemplating how nice it would be to be able to renovate it in one go, then remembering that it will take us years - a robin landed next to me. The owner said would we look after the robins that come to the house every day. One the first day the parent came with his (or her) three babies and they came into the lounge. Since then they feed daily out of our hands and come and find us in the lounge, dining room or kitchen, we have little piles of suet pellets in every room. The weeds don't seem so bad now. Seriously, a little wildlife seems to eclipse any negatives.

Sounds lovely, colourhappy, and I hope it lasts. I did the same as you - moved into a house needing complete renovation with a garden that has since got out of control. As soon as I start digging I hear a swoosh and there's a robin. I love it. I read that they only live a short time so I suspect that the robin who swooshes now is not the same as the one who appeared when I arrived (this is my third spring here). It's not as tame as yours but friendly. Beyond that treat, the difficulty is the really invasive weeds and the way they control me; that I loathe and it sends me into despair, robin or no robin. There is much else here that I love especially at this time of year when it all emerges and seeing that is as heart-warming as the swoosh of a robin.