Balancing Work and Gardening: How to Plan Your Spring Garden

Are you struggling to find the best way to start your own small spring garden?  

I’m willing to bet you’ve tried setting up a garden before, but it’s hard to squeeze in time for seeds, soil and sunlight with everything else you have to do for your spring garden. 

And when you can finally wedge out an hour here or there, it only makes you feel more defeated because, let’s face it, an hour isn’t enough to achieve a successful spring garden set-up. 

Don’t worry! You’re not alone. 

One of the biggest challenges people face is finding the balance between their everyday “life” activities [jobs, family, sports, church, fill in the blank…] and incorporating some sustainable gardening practices optimized for the spring garden.

It’s hard to stay motivated to pursue sustainable, healthy food when you’re literally squeezing in a half hour here and there to water the seeds, pull the weeds, but never really “all-in” for your spring garden.

Speaking from experience, successful gardening, whether it be container gardening or outside bed gardening, as a working (busy) mom takes grit and dedication. And TIME.

So how – and when – can you find enough time for starting your ideal spring garden? Because you should. Should you do it first thing in the morning? Lunchtime? Later in the day?

Keep reading for the pros and cons of each… 

Best Time for Starting Your Spring Garden: Do Mornings Have an Edge?

Sometimes you have to be the early bird when it comes to gardening.

If early mornings are when you feel most productive, block out time for garden-related tasks in your spring garden first thing in the AM. 

Scheduling gardening-related tasks before everything (and everyone) else has 3 big benefits:

• Benefit #1 – You’ll get your dopamine hit for the morning. You’ll start your day off with a great start, focusing on joy and fulfillment, so you’ll feel accomplished and motivated to tackle anything that comes your way
• Benefit #2 – You won’t spend the day stressing when you’re going to fit it in because it’s already done!
• Benefit #3 – Doing pleasurable tasks early in the morning helps you establish a routine of seeking joy to start your day.

If you’re not naturally an early riser, a morning schedule can be hard to adopt. 

But if you commit, you can actually encourage your brain to adjust so you’re more alert in the morning. 

Plus, studies show that having a positive morning routine can really boost your day’s productivity. This could be great for your spring garden!

If you have time, check out my other blog post on Unlocking The Potential of Your Day.

Best Time for Starting Your Garden: Afternoons can work, too…

If mornings are an absolute hard pass, tackling your gardening projects and tasks in the early afternoon can work too.

You just have to be very honest with yourself on when/where your afternoon free-times actually land. We all know how easy it is to procrastinate, right?

For example, if you schedule time for your awesome spring garden (which you’re going to do this year) between 1 and 3 PM every day, get your other “busy” tasks out of the way in the morning. In other words – EAT THE FROG. Do the un-fun things, so you can do the things you want to do when you have time to do them. Don’t let those other tasks distract you or linger on! It’s too easy to get pulled into the “I’ll tackle this later” rut. I’m pretty sure I could write a doctoral thesis on the art of procrastination.

It may help to have a “divider” or “boundary” task that always tells your brain, “Ok, last task before I get to go have fun…”. That can help shift your brain chemistry and help you adjust to your gardening tasks at that time.On the plus side, it’ll be easier to stay consistent with gardening in the afternoon. Most people are more physically energetic and alert at that time and you have a good chance of better weather…unless you live in Michigan. The gloves come off, weather-wise, in Northern Michigan and we regularly celebrate all four seasons in a 24-hour period, especially in the spring months like March, April and May.

Best Time for Gardening: Night time has its perks…

If this is your “go” time, more power to you! 

Personally, the later in the day it gets, the better I do. The kids are in bed, the husband is relaxing for the night, and I have some time to do things that I enjoy. For many people, this is when they have more energy to work on their spring garden.

Scheduling gardening time after everything quiets down means you’ll have fewer distractions and an easier time focusing. There’s also just something special about being in your gardening space during the twilight hours – it’s a magical, peaceful time where you can focus on your inner emotions and mull over the day, while having your hands in the soil and on your plants. Very, very special time…

This is especially true if you need quiet time to wind down from the day – either from work, kids, family, or all of the above.

So if you “wake up” at night bursting with energy and focus, go for it. 

Who needs to binge-watch yet another DIY home show? Be productive and get your gardening done!

Tips For Night-time Productivity

And if you’re not naturally a night owl but nighttime is the only time you have for pulling weeds, spreading seeds and doing it by moonlight, here are some tips to stay productive:

• Tip #1 – Take a break before you start. Have another boundary activity that triggers/trains your brain to say, “ok, it’s almost time to go into gardening mode” (which is a thing…)
• Tip #2 – Communicate with your family unit to set a hard start and required time block for your gardening tasks you want to accomplish. This differs depending on the stage and size of your garden, so you’ll have to be open and transparent through the whole process.
• Tip #3 – Take this time to establish good watering routines, because watering at night is the most beneficial for your plants. Because it’s not in the heat of the day, you have much less chance of fighting water evaporation.

There’s No One-Size-Fits-All Spring Gardening Plan!

Ultimately, the best time to work your garden is whenever you’re most productive. And by that, I mean: awake, focused, excited and dedicated to making positive long-term changes for your family.

Sure, an hour here or there is great. But when it comes time to really focus and get things done, you really do need more than an hour when getting a spring garden up and running. 

When you’re juggling gardening with other “life” tasks and responsibilities, you have to be a little more strict with your schedule. Set time-related deadlines and stick to them. So If you plan to start at 6 am, start at 6 am, not 6:30. That way there’s less room for procrastination. 

Remember, the hardest part is starting. Even if your brain feels foggy, it’ll wake up once you start.