Now ‘tis spring and weeds are shallow-rooted; Suffer them now and they’ll o’ergrow the garden.
Wise words indeed from William Shakespeare as we look at our gardens and try to think of how we can enjoy our outdoor space without spending hours on garden maintenance.
As well as getting to grips with newly sprouting perennial weeds to save time and energy later in the year, there are lots of low maintenance plants that you can use in your garden which will give you structure and interest throughout the seasons.
One of my favourite shrubs is a Hebe and they come in a variety of colours and sizes. The tight-knit, rounded mounds of Hebe ‘Sutherlandii’ are sage-green and look like clipped topiary, but they actually need very little attention. This low maintenance Hebe can be planted in bands to create an informal hedge or can be used in the corner of a bed to create structure. It is covered with short white flowers in the summer which attracts bees from all around.
For interesting leaf structure, you might consider Hebe ‘Eyecatcher’ which has dark green foliage edged with silver or perhaps Hebe ‘Red Edge’ which as the name suggests has leaves which are edged in red with the bonus of masses of lilac flower spikes between June and July. Hebes only need to be lightly pruned after flowering to maintain their shape and can generally go without a lot of additional feeding.
For a low maintenance herbaceous perennial its hard to beat a hardy geranium. This tenacious little plant is easy to grow, fills in the gaps between your shrubs and packs a real punch in summer by filling your border with colour from June to August. Varieties to try include Geranium Rozanne ‘Jolly Bee’ which creates a blue cascade of colour in borders and pots. Geranium renardii with large greyish-green leaves and sprays of white flowers with deep purple veins in June and July. This variety is compact, and spreads slowly so is perfect for the front of a sunny border. For prolific, widely spreading and long flowering ground cover, the purple-veined Geranium ‘Dilys’ is perfect and likes partial shade or full sun. To maintain simply cut your hardy geranium to the ground in late winter.
Another low maintenance plant which provides structure in your border is Anemanthele lessoniana or ‘Pheasant’s tail grass’. This elegant grass arches over and is versatile as it thrives in sun and light shade. This low maintenance grass has long leaves which are green and oat in colour, turning coppery ginger in the autumn and holds its form and colour throughout the winter so you will have seasonal interest through out the year. As a bonus, it will self-seed and fill in any gaps! In early spring all you need to do is pop on a pair of gloves and comb through the clumps of the grass to remove any old leaves – perfect low maintenance gardening.
For shady spots in your garden, you can’t get more low maintenance than hardy ferns. Dryopteris filix-mas is particularly shade tolerant and starts to unfurl in late April, together with the blooming of native bluebells so for very little effort on your part you can have a spectacular late spring show with this fern and bulb combination. Indeed, bulbs are another low maintenance way to have colour in your garden, and you can plant small spring bulbs such as snowdrops, grape hyacinths and winter aconites where your hardy geraniums die down to create interest for longer.
To create the ultimate low maintenance garden, you should consider how to plant as well as what to plant.
- Avoid using just one of something, because it makes maintenance easier if you are dealing with lots of the same plant.
- Planting in odd numbers always looks better than even numbers so plant in threes, fives, sevens and nines depending on the size of your garden.
- Avoid planting in blocks – create ribbons of plants if you can therefore creating contours in your borders and a more natural scheme which extends the eye.
If you would like further advice or information about how to create a low maintenance garden, then please get in touch.
