Low maintenance ideas for the time-limited gardener
When it comes to having your dream garden, the key barrier for most people is a lack of time due to busy lives.
A low-maintenance garden doesn’t have to be a dull one, though . There are lots of features that can be used to maximise effect meaning you can still have own peaceful outdoor space full of colour and greenery. Creating something for the time hungry limited gardener will also help cut back on those time-consuming chores of pruning, watering, weeding and mowing.
We’ve put together a guide on how to have a low-maintenance garden to save precious time, allowing you the luxury of relaxing outdoors with your family and friends.
Containers
Containers and potted plants are a simple and easy low-maintenance option for your garden. Using containers for your colourful displays reduces the amount and the intensity of work required to have a beautiful garden. The biggest benefit to containers is little to no weeding, a pot with a few plants in it is less intimidating than working on a large border or flower bed.
If you arrange of cluster of containers together, all your gardening chores are also in one spot, making it easier and less time consuming. Placing your containers in a visible, convenient place help you to stay on top of plant care.
Another positive to container gardening is its versatility – it offers flexible growing opportunities, can be used in any outdoor space, no matter the size so can be adapted for patios, balconies or small yards. Containers can also create interchangeable displays that can be moved around and will brighten up your garden year-round.
Containers also save water. Instead of a hosepipe showering a garden and its surrounds, you can water exactly where it needs to go. Or you can invest in some containers that contain auto irrigation, meaning your plants can thrive even when you are away.
Our range of self-watering plant pots are perfect for people who are often away from home as they draw and drain water as and when the plant needs, keeping your plants healthy all year round. Why not try traditional buxus or African violets, streptocarpus, impatiens and geraniums for an injection of colour in our Turin Recycled Plastic Self-Watering Plant Pot. Or maybe cherry tomatoes and salad leaves in our Milan Recycled Plastic Self-Watering Trough Planter With Saucer.
Shrubs
Shrubs are the backbone of any garden one of the best low-maintenance plants to choose for your outdoor space. They provide year-round colour and evergreen shrubs often require very little maintenance, perfect for if you are short on time.
Ideal greenery for instant impact includes Choisya, which forms a neat mound of evergreen foliage with starry flowers in spring and Skimmia Japonica which thrills with its evergreen and aromatic bright green foliage and panicles of scented white flowers through into spring.
We also love Euonymus, a small spreading evergreen shrub with deep green leaves, needs little care and provides year-round foliage interest in the garden, as well as then classic Daphne which was voted one of the most fragrant shrubs in the UK and displays puts large glossy and attractive leaves year-round.
Perennials
Perennials are some of the most fuss-free plants. You buy them once and they come back year after year, ideal for those with little time to plant during the different seasons.
Perennials are easy to grow, and incredibly versatile. They can be used as fillers between shrubs in borders or planted in containers. Once established, they provide joyous blooms and attract wildlife and pollinators to your outdoor space.
Low maintenance and hardy annuals to try include Lavender which produces fragrant summer flowers and is drought tolerant, ideal for the forgetful waterer! Sedum is also a hard-wearing perennial that will grow almost anywhere with little care, attracting bees to its late summer blooms.
Geraniums are a colourful and diverse group of plants and are some of the most tolerant and long-lived perennials you could grow, whilst Rudbeckia is a perennial that does best in full sun and tolerates average soil and even drought.
Try growing in one of our luxurious and stylish planters, from glazed containers to classic terracotta, rustic metal charm or wooden barrels, we have will have the perfect pot to suit your needs for your shrub or perennial plants.
Wildflower Garden
Like your garden a little wilder? Go for a wildflower garden because little maintenance is needed. Wild flowers have always managed to thrive without man’s intervention, just look in any field or woodland.
The best way to grow a wildflower garden is by seed. It can be easily found and bought in most garden centres and comes in an array of colours and styles from cottage garden to a nectar rich mix that brings butterflies and bees flocking in.
The best time to sow wildflower seeds is in autumn as this will give you the earliest display of wildflowers. Pick mixes with low maintenance varieties such as Ox-eye Daisy, Corn Poppy, Cornflower, Corn Marigold and simply scatter where you want your flowers to bloom and lightly rake in.
Mulch
Spreading mulch on beds will inhibit weed growth whilst nourishing the soil and fertilising your plants. It also will mean you won't have to water as often, and it'll enrich the soil when it decays into the earth. In winter, mulching is especially beneficial as it can help protect your plants and its roots from frosts.
There are different types of mulches that gradually break down over time to release nutrients into the soil. They include leaf mould, garden compost and bark chippings. Non-biodegradable mulches successfully suppress weeds and preserve moisture. These include slate, pebbles, egg shells, seashells and gravel.
Mulches can be applied any time, all year round and is perfect for gardeners that are looking to create a low maintenance garden.
