Do you wish for a low-maintenance garden for the warmer months around the corner?
A garden is a feature that more people want in their yard. It provides them with a personal outdoor space from which to enjoy warm summer days. Or, they may simply spend some time out in nature. But having a garden also comes with additional maintenance responsibilities. Unfortunately, many people fail to realize the upkeep needed to keep a garden in good shape all year round.
Thankfully, there’s a solution for people who do not enjoy gardening or whose time is limited. That’s because it is possible to create and keep a low-maintenance garden. And a low-maintenance garden can provide all of the same joyful experiences without the additional upkeep.
4 Keys to a Low Maintenance Garden
1 – Low Maintenance Landscaping
The key to low-maintenance landscaping is working with your garden’s natural features rather than working against them. This practice allows your garden to do most of the hard work for you. Thus, you reduce the amount of effort you need to put in.
For example, imagine you have a steep bank at the end of your garden. So rather than demolish this to level out the ground, create a rockery instead. You will enjoy turning the grass bank into a low-maintenance feature that will be the envy of your neighbors.
Elsewhere if you have a particularly damp and boggy patch of ground, consider digging this out and creating a pond as a part of a wetland feature. You can only collect rainwater and runoff from the rest of the garden, but it will also provide a home for animals. You’ll enjoy watching frogs, newts, and dragonflies, and it’s far easier than improving the drainage across the rest of the garden.
Another common low-maintenance landscaping idea is to install a flagstone patio. Patios not only reduce the amount of garden space you need to tend but provide a durable surface from which to enjoy your garden even when the ground outside is wet. A few pieces of patio furniture, some low-maintenance potted plants, and an umbrella later, and you have an aesthetic garden feature that is both functional and beautiful.
2 – Low Maintenance Lawns
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges in a yard is maintaining the lawn. The grass is always growing. So even if all you have in your garden is grass, you will still need to cut and maintain it. That care helps you to avoid it turning into a mass of tangled weeds. Of course, the ultimate low-maintenance lawn option would be to remove the lawn altogether and replace it with fake grass in the form of artificial turf. However, that’s a far-fetched idea that most homeowners cannot afford!
Artificial turf is made from plastic, so it will never grow, weeds will never grow up through it, and you won’t need to be worrying about watering it or feeding it in to keep it looking lush. High-quality artificial turf can last up to 10 years, is safe for pets and children, and can help to keep your house cleaner too, but having plastic grass isn’t an option for everyone.
So if you are like most homeowners and plan to keep a real grass lawn, what can you do?
Well, firstly, you can reduce the amount of grass you need to care for by installing a patio (as mentioned above) or by adding in some gravel areas or walkways that reduce the overall grass area. Next, you will want to invest in a good-quality mower that will help to make tending the grass even less of a chore and more of an enjoyable activity.
If you have only a small amount of lawn to tend to, then a lightweight push mower should suffice, but if you want to put your feet up or have larger areas to cut, then a ride-on mower may be a better alternative. Finally, for the ultimate low-maintenance lawn mower option, you can even consider looking into robot lawn mowers that literally go out and mow the lawn for you without you needing to lift a finger.
3 – Low Maintenance Plants
Although a well-maintained lawn is a lovely feature in itself, having a few plants and shrubs in your garden can really help bring it to life whilst also providing homes for wildlife, increasing the biodiversity of your garden. Plants and shrubs were not all born equal, and some require far less tending to that others. Some low-maintenance plants to consider include:
Hostas
Hostas are a great plant that requires nothing but a little watering if it should be a parched summer. They multiply naturally, so you get bang for your buck and can help to add color and interest to those corners of the garden that just need a little extra something.
Blue spirea and boxwood bushes
The blue spirea and boxwood are a couple of slow-growing varieties that won’t need too much pruning or tending when it comes to bushes.
Spring bulbs
Springtime bulbs such as narcissus or daffodils are an effortless way to add color to your garden that will come back every year and require no maintenance whatsoever. Just let the flowers come up, dye back, and then mow them, and you’ll be greeted with fresh flowers again the following year.
4 – Low Maintenance Vegetable Gardens
If you enjoy eating homegrown fruit and vegetables but don’t want to spend too much time tending to the plants, then there are a few things you can try. Firstly, stay small. The fewer plants you have, the less input they’ll need. Secondly, choose easy to grow vegetables based on the season you are growing in. For example, in the cold season during spring and fall, try crops like kale, radishes, onions, and potatoes. Then for warm seasons, try tomatoes, cucumbers, or beans.
Herbs such as thyme, basil, and coriander also make great edible plants that you can often also grow indoors all year round. So just snip off what you need and let the plant continue to grow.
The Bottom Line: You Can Enjoy a Low Maintenance Garden With a Little Up-front Effort
So there you have it. Whether you’re looking for a carefree lawn, a low maintenance garden with pretty plants, or you were searching for some ideas for growing low-maintenance vegetables, then we hope you’ve got some useful tips and advice from this post.
Despite freelancing to make a living, her love is "all things home."
Deborah grew up in a family that grew a large vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, helping her parents pull weeds and can home-grown foods as part of her childhood. In fact, she had no idea that she could purchase veggies and fruits in pre-packed steel cans until she went to college and made a food run.
Today, she lives in Bertie County, North Carolina, an agricultural rural area with more chickens than people. She lives with her husband and a sweet toy fox terrier. Together, they enjoy DIY projects, furniture refinishing, gardening, and canning.
This blog celebrates all things home.
