Do you have a junk drawer in your kitchen? You know, the one that’s difficult to open because it’s so full. And it’s even more difficult to find anything in it. Every time you think about cleaning out that drawer, you take one look at it and slam it shut… a project for another day. You keep putting off the job because it just seems soooo overwhelming.

Junk drawers are not the only jobs we procrastinate on. We can all find a drawer or maybe a closet or two that overwhelms us. And our gardens can be the same. Just because it’s outside doesn’t mean we don’t have clutter issues.

My garden “junk drawer” is the side yard. This is the area that I turn a blind eye to. It’s where we store our containers, tools, flats, potting soil, trash cans and so much more. Unfortunately, it’s not hidden inside a drawer or behind a door. Every time I go out to my garden, I’m walking through the mess.

Every year that goes by, I tell myself, this is the year I’m going to clean up the mess. I’m going to create a system for storing the pots and planting containers. I’ll find a way to store the tools so they look neat and organized. And I’ll get rid of the junk that I keep “just because.”

But every garden season passes by and the side yard keeps getting worse. Because when you’re a busy gardener, cleaning the “junk drawer” in your garden isn’t a high priority. Until it is. Until you’re forced into cleaning that messy area.

Sometimes it takes an unforeseen disaster to force us to clean out the messy areas in our lives. And that’s what happened a few weeks ago. We lost another incense cedar tree in our backyard to a windstorm. This was a massive tree. It not only fell on our roof and caused damage, it flattened the ‘No Dig Beds’ we put in last year.

Cleaning Out the Messy Side Yard…

What does this downed tree have to do with the messy side yard? In order for the tree company to cut up and remove this enormous tree, we needed to clear the area. This side yard is the only access point into the backyard. For them to pull the pieces out front, we had to move everything.

It’s like that junk drawer. While the easiest way to clean it out would be to work on one little corner of at a time. Instead, we’re forced to pull the drawer out and dump it all on the table. Now you need to clean up the mess or you’ll never be able to eat at your table again.

So rather than declutter one area of the side yard at a time, we had to remove everything all at once. All piled up in our yard until the workmen were finished with the tree. Like our dinner table, if we ever wanted to use that area of the garden again, we had to deal with the mess.

Once the tree was gone, I began putting the area back into place. As I did it, I first eliminated the junk. Then I determined the best place for each item and tried to figure out a better system for storing the garden supplies. I took my time returning everything to the side yard.

I learned some important things along the way. Here are 6 things I found helpful as I decluttered, cleaned and restored the side yard. These are steps you can take to clean up any messy areas you have in your garden as well.

6 Steps to Clean Up Your Messy Garden Areas…

Step 1: Determine Your Goal For the Project

The first step you need to take when decluttering an area in your garden is to figure out what your goal is. Is your goal to clean up the area to make it more usable? Or do you want to change the purpose of the area?

For us, eliminating the garden supplies from this area would lead to a less cluttered space. But this is the most obvious place to store our garden tools and supplies. Our goal was to get rid of the useless items and organize everything else in a way that was more accessible. And, I wanted the area to be more attractive to work in.

Your goal might be to revamp an area. For example, you might need to create a better way to store garden supplies in your garage. Or maybe you need to get rid of garden tools/supplies you haven’t used in years. Maybe you want to create a new garden area, but you need to clean up the junk pile first. Perhaps your goal is to give your garden a refresh, so it doesn’t look so overcrowded and cluttered.

Step 2: Create a Project List/Timeline

Complete your cleanup by breaking the job into smaller tasks. For us, the initial phase was to remove everything from the area. Then we set a goal for replacing the items once workmen were through removing the tree and repairing the roof. We broke the job into smaller tasks.

Cleanup for our area included:

• Sorting seedling trays and containers. Why do I have a dozen trays that no longer hold water?
• Going through the tools and getting rid of the broken ones.
• Creating a clean surface space for potting up plants.
• Hanging up the garden hoses until they’re needed for the season.
• Finding a better way to store the pots and trays.
• Adding in some new decorative items to spruce up the area.

Step 3: Set Aside Time Each Day to Complete the Cleanup

This is where you need to be consistent in following through with your plan. Once the tree company was through with the tree removal, I wanted to just drag everything back into place. But I know myself. Once back in place, I wouldn’t take the time to do the organizing and eliminating that needed to be done.

Instead, I took the time to sort, discard and clean items before they went back into place. That way, my side yard area got the refresh it needed. Although I was tempted to just be done with the task, I wanted to create an area that didn’t make me cringe every time I walked by. At the same time, having a pile of garden gear hanging out on the grass can definitely be a motivator.

Read… How to Create a Beautiful Garden in 30 Minutes a Day

Step 4: Be Ruthless

I see the value of most everything that has been piling up in this area over the years. I use the empty yogurt containers as scoops to fill my pots with potting soil. The coffee cans hold worms to feed the chickens. I use the broken stakes to support smaller flowers in my pots.

We’ve tried over the years to be frugal with our supplies and to make do with what we have. But this is the year I’m parting with all the accumulated junk. If it doesn’t serve an obvious purpose or it’s broken and we can’t fix it, then it goes.

Step 5: Don’t Forget to Maintain Your Newly Cleaned Area

This is actually the hardest part of the job. Once you’ve cleaned up that “junk drawer, ” it’s easy to fall back into your old habits of just dumping stuff and leaving it to deal with later. That’s how the area became a mess in the first place. If you have this mentality of “I’ll take care of it tomorrow, ” then the piles will accumulate all over again.

You need a plan of action to maintain the area. The first thing I recommend is that you take a few pictures of your newly cleaned area. These will remind you of how lovely everything looked and will be a visual image of all your hard work.

As with any decluttering job, make sure that you have a place for everything… a place to store your tools, a place to store potting soil, a way to stash your fertilizers, etc. When you have specific areas to house all the paraphernalia of gardening, then you can put everything back in place when you’re finished using it.

You’ll also need to decide what to do with the new stuff you bring home. Where will you put new items while you’re waiting to use them? The new plants you’ve purchased or the great thrift store find for your garden that you need to work on.

What process will you follow to maintain the area? You could plan to spend 10 minutes at the end of the day cleaning up. Or choose one day a week where you’ll go through and clean up the garden supplies. Make a plan of action ahead of time so the clutter doesn’t sneak up on you again.

Step 6: Celebrate With Something Special

Don’t forget to celebrate all your hard work. Once you clean an area, cheer your job well done. I’m going to celebrate my side yard by adding some new hanging lights. This will not only add some ambiance at night, but it will remind me that every area of the garden can be special. Even storage areas.

There are many ways to celebrate all your hard work. Here are a few ideas…

• Treat yourself to a special decor item for the cleaned area.
• Add a perky new wreath to the area.
• Host a backyard gathering to showcase your new area.
• Make the area sparkle with solar lights or strands.
• Hang a garden sign on the nearest wall.
• Share your success with another gardener.

Once you get this disorganized garden area cleaned up, you’ll feel so good about this area that it might encourage you to keep cleaning other areas of your garden. Wouldn’t life be grand if we could permanently get rid of all the junk drawers in our lives?

Cleaning this area has been on my ‘To Do List’ for many garden seasons. I’m sad to say that it took a disaster to motivate me, but now that it’s done, I’m thrilled with the results.

What about you? Do you have an area in your garden that needs a good decluttering? It could be your garden shed, garage, potting bench or side yard.

Whether you had a windblown tree force you to clean up your disorganized garden areas or you’re just tired of the mess, now is a good time to clean it up. Before the new garden season is upon us, get your garden spaces ready to go.