Bloom
Time
Emmy-award winning actress
Alison Sweeney
loves to garden, but
with her busy schedule, hours spent caring
for plants is not an option. Gardening
expert Megan McConnell Hughes shows
Alison and other busy moms how they
can have a flower-filled garden while
keeping time-consuming garden chores
to a minimum—which leaves plenty of
time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
ADVERTISEMENT
MULCH, MULCH,
MULCH. Spread a two-
inch layer of organic
mulch, such as finely
shredded leaves, bark, or
cocoa hulls, to suppress
weeds for an entire season
and prevent excessive soil
moisture evaporation.
EMBRACE LOW-WATER
PLANTS. Reduce your
daily watering chores by
planting drought-resistant
plants. Sedums and many
other succulent plants are
low-allergy plants that
thrive in dry soil.
CONTAIN YOUR
MAKE PERENNIAL
CHOICES. Forgo planting
tiny annual plants every
year. Instead, choose
perennials that come
back year after year.
Once perennials put
down roots you can count
on at least 3 to 5 years of
trouble-free blooms.
GARDEN. If you get carried
away planting more flowers
and vegetables than you
can care for in a traditional
garden plot, confine your
planting space to a group of
pretty containers.
TAKE 10. Dedicate just
10 minutes of your day
to garden chores. You'll
be amazed at how many
weeds you can pull, plants
you can tidy up, and
vegetables you can harvest
in 10 short minutes.
Visit lovetheair.com for
more allergy-friendly tips
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Friendly Flowers for Allergy Sufferers
These easy-to-grow plants boast very little allergy-inducing
pollen. Enjoy them in the garden and snip a bouquet to bring
inside. All plants thrive in full sun and well-drained soil.
Dahlia
Dahlia
Magnolia
Magnolia
Snapdragon
Antirrhinum
Iris
Iris
Geranium
Pelargonium
Hibiscus
Hibiscus
_____
J
H orticultu rist, gardener, and w rite r M egan M cConnell
Hughes is the a u th o r o f several gardening books and a
regular co n trib u to r to th e
Better Hom es a n d Cardens
fa m ily o f m agazines. Look fo r her m ost recent book.
Id eas an d How -To: Stone Land scaping,
on shelves now.
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