How to Declutter Your Garden
Put the KonMari Method to work outdoors and carve out more time to enjoy your yard
Chances are youāve heard of Japanese organizing expert Marie Kondo and her bestselling books, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy, and Netflix series, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. Her organizing tips, origami-like shirt-folding methods and philosophy of keeping only objects that spark joy have fueled a worldwide home-decluttering craze. But what about gardens?
Outdoor spaces can just as easily become cluttered with tools, broken pots, plants that should have been pitched and a mishmash of outdoor accessories. For a fresh start, letās take a look at how to put seven lessons from the KonMari Method to work outside and, ultimately, open up more time to enjoy the garden.
Outdoor spaces can just as easily become cluttered with tools, broken pots, plants that should have been pitched and a mishmash of outdoor accessories. For a fresh start, letās take a look at how to put seven lessons from the KonMari Method to work outside and, ultimately, open up more time to enjoy the garden.
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1. Make This Question Your Mantra: Does This Spark Joy?
First, Kondo advises laying your hands, so to speak, on every object you own and asking yourself: āDoes this spark joy?ā If it doesnāt, and if it isnāt useful, get rid of it. While the initial purge can feel a bit ruthless, the result can be deeply restorative.
First, Kondo advises laying your hands, so to speak, on every object you own and asking yourself: āDoes this spark joy?ā If it doesnāt, and if it isnāt useful, get rid of it. While the initial purge can feel a bit ruthless, the result can be deeply restorative.
For outdoor spaces, this act of sorting and reassessing applies to tools, garden accessories, materials, furniture and plants. Look for opportunities to donate within your community the functioning tools, leftover construction materials and healthy plants no longer serving you.
In the end, youāll create space to give items you truly enjoy, such as a simple water feature, room to breathe.
In the end, youāll create space to give items you truly enjoy, such as a simple water feature, room to breathe.
2. Declutter by Category, Not by Area
While many of us are used to setting aside time to tackle a certain area at once ā organizing the shed, for example ā Kondo recommends a different approach. She says you should work through your possessions by category ā tools, containers, seasonal furniture ā rather than by (garden) room.
Chances are items in a category are scattered throughout multiple areas and are best assessed and purged as a group. For example, gather all of your potting supplies and deal with them all at once, getting rid of duplicates or items you no longer use.
Find garage and tool storage in the Houzz Shop
While many of us are used to setting aside time to tackle a certain area at once ā organizing the shed, for example ā Kondo recommends a different approach. She says you should work through your possessions by category ā tools, containers, seasonal furniture ā rather than by (garden) room.
Chances are items in a category are scattered throughout multiple areas and are best assessed and purged as a group. For example, gather all of your potting supplies and deal with them all at once, getting rid of duplicates or items you no longer use.
Find garage and tool storage in the Houzz Shop
3. Let Go of the āWhat Ifsā and āSomedaysā
Itās time to finally toss that half-dead plant into the compost bin and tidy up the debris of an unfinished garden project. Take the time to assess plants that have been underperforming ā replacing fruit trees that produce poorly and getting rid of plants that look sickly.
Work with a landscape designer on Houzz
Itās time to finally toss that half-dead plant into the compost bin and tidy up the debris of an unfinished garden project. Take the time to assess plants that have been underperforming ā replacing fruit trees that produce poorly and getting rid of plants that look sickly.
Work with a landscape designer on Houzz
4. Give Items That Remain a Specific Home
After recycling and donating, work with the joy-giving and useful items that remain and designate a specific spot for each one where it is easily accessible. Kondo recommends keeping items that are frequently used where they can be seen, rather than stashed away in storage bins. Ideally, it should be just as easy to put something away as it is to locate it later.
After recycling and donating, work with the joy-giving and useful items that remain and designate a specific spot for each one where it is easily accessible. Kondo recommends keeping items that are frequently used where they can be seen, rather than stashed away in storage bins. Ideally, it should be just as easy to put something away as it is to locate it later.
Set up systems now to make it easy to keep things organized in the future. For example, the easiest place to store waste bins is close to the street, concealed by a structure or clipped hedge. Designate a spot for the bins so that putting them away in the future will take minimal effort.
5. Redefine Your Garden Style
By this point in the process, your outdoor space will appear much cleaner than when you started. Take advantage of this to rethink your gardenās planting plan, furniture arrangement and the overall feeling youād like to create. Perhaps itās time to heavily prune a mature tree to open up a view of the sky or adopt a more calming color palette than in previous years.
Find your landscape inspiration
By this point in the process, your outdoor space will appear much cleaner than when you started. Take advantage of this to rethink your gardenās planting plan, furniture arrangement and the overall feeling youād like to create. Perhaps itās time to heavily prune a mature tree to open up a view of the sky or adopt a more calming color palette than in previous years.
Find your landscape inspiration
To change the feeling of a space without adding back any clutter, try rearranging outdoor furniture for a new perspective or adding a fresh coat of paint in a surprising hue. This pair of lime green Adirondack chairs set against a cobalt blue wall brings energy and life to the otherwise fairly monochromatic garden.
6. Respect your Remaining Stuff
The best way to avoid acquiring new tools, furniture and containers is to take care of the ones you already have. Kondo encourages her readers to treat possessions with a respect one might reserve for a living being ā thanking tools for the purpose they serve, for example. While this may be a step further than you want to go, follow Kondoās advice for taking care of items that serve you well by oiling shovel handles, sharpening blades and dusting off pots.
How to Clean and Care for Garden Tools
The best way to avoid acquiring new tools, furniture and containers is to take care of the ones you already have. Kondo encourages her readers to treat possessions with a respect one might reserve for a living being ā thanking tools for the purpose they serve, for example. While this may be a step further than you want to go, follow Kondoās advice for taking care of items that serve you well by oiling shovel handles, sharpening blades and dusting off pots.
How to Clean and Care for Garden Tools
7. Embrace āLess Is Moreā
Itās amazing how much better your outdoor space will look and feel once youāve decluttered and organized. Enjoy the open, empty spaces in your garden and resist the temptation to fill them up. Before acquiring new plants or accessories, remember Kondoās underlying philosophy of having only material things that spark joy.
Tell us: What techniques have you used to declutter your garden and keep it organized over time? Share in the Comments.
More on Houzz
How to Design a Low-Maintenance Garden
Discover more Houzz garden guides
Find a landscape designer
Shop for outdoor products
Itās amazing how much better your outdoor space will look and feel once youāve decluttered and organized. Enjoy the open, empty spaces in your garden and resist the temptation to fill them up. Before acquiring new plants or accessories, remember Kondoās underlying philosophy of having only material things that spark joy.
Tell us: What techniques have you used to declutter your garden and keep it organized over time? Share in the Comments.
More on Houzz
How to Design a Low-Maintenance Garden
Discover more Houzz garden guides
Find a landscape designer
Shop for outdoor products
celestina89: My problem arose from my innate disorganization and from splitting my time and attention between nurturing market plants and attending to my own garden. Now I'm attending to my garden. We'll see if it makes any difference.
@Wendy Peckham: I don't think your post was too long, but there was a lot of white space so that may have caused your difficulty.
I am aware of Hudson and his stance as well as his catalogue for his garden biz. I just don't agree with his sentiments. I can agree with natural adaption of flora to an area, but not as a philosophy to encourage dissemination as the main method of preservation.
Reason is that it changes the ecological system. Many bee, bird, insects and animals depend on native plants. Their systems do not adjust as quickly as plants can adjust to cross propagation and importation.
Many areas are now lacking milkweed for the monarch and the result is a decrease in the species. Why? Because people find flowers they like better than milkweeds that the monarch requires. And the list goes on. Pollination by native bees have decreased tremendously because the nectar they collect is no longer available locally or perhaps not as useful to the particular species. So, bee keepers have a good business to "rent" their hives to farmers so their crops can be pollinated and you can buy the results in your local farmer's market or grocery store. Instead with the lack of local bee population, grocers are forced to buy products elsewhere. But then the consumer pays the price.
There is a compromise, and many are now learning to at least try to "go native" with 50% or more of their flora including trees, shrubs, vines as well as flowers. In my area, several townships and towns are encouraging home owners to buy "native". It not only affects the bees, birds, butterflies and mammals/animals, but it changes the ecosystem enough for folks to readily notice a decrease in several species.
California buckeye has caused losses of honey bees. Humans can be poisoned by eating honey made from Carolina jessamine made by bees in Georgia and Mississippi because native plants were not readily available to the local native bees, so the bees used what ever sources were available. And yes, bees also can become paralyzed and die from the plant.
Not all plants that are toxic to bees are toxic to humans and visa versa. Best to not only know the difference but to plant plenty of native species.
When looking for native plants, search not only your state, but your particular ecosystem within the state. Just because a plant is native to your state, it doesn't mean it's native to your ecosystem. Many plants become adapted to nearby areas and people call them native because they survive. It takes some digging and reading to understand the difference.
And this is one native to the Big Thicket of East Pineywoods of Texas that I'm working to help recover. Yes, it's endangered species of Long leaf pine one of my favorites. The longleaf plays host to native pollinators, squirrels, songbirds and even rare/endangered species such as the red cockaded woodpecker and American chaffseed. Without that species, they would disappear. The longleaf is also host to many understory plants which supports a diverse wildlife habitat which in turn provide humans with free entertainment. :)
dogmom2many : I just now saw a question (s) you asked! I'm sorry! Yes, there is rock rose in the photo and the last one is a mint marigold (an herb sometimes substituted for French tarragon).