If you’ve always wanted to have a beautiful landscape garden, but are put off by the time and effort needed to maintain one properly, we wouldn’t be surprised. We’re all very conscious of how we spend our spare time, and gardening is a productive use of it. Sometimes, the responsibilities pile up, and it can become challenging to keep on top of your outside space.
What if we told you there was a way to create some stunning garden landscape ideas that wouldn’t require much effort to maintain afterwards? Who wouldn’t want a beautiful outside space that didn’t need hours of labour every weekend?
Creating Beautiful, Creative Landscapes
If you’re intrigued by the idea of a low maintenance garden, and one that looks beautiful, then this blog is for you. A garden should be an outside space to relax in and enjoy, rather than somewhere that needs constant attention. We’re here to share some ideas for your garden that’ll mean you can spend more time enjoying your space rather than tending to it.
The tips below are ideal if you’re new to landscaping or gardening, or if you want to freshen up your existing space in a creative way. These tips are also great for you if you’re a bit short on time to give your garden the attention it deserves.
Tips for Low Maintenance Landscape Gardening
- Keep plant varieties to a minimum.
The fewer varieties of plants you have in your garden, the easier it is to keep on top of things. For example, evergreen shrubs like lavender make an excellent low maintenance choice, or you could go one step further and lay composite decking, gravel or block paving in your garden to keep things simple. If you’re keen on having some plant life, you could consider investing in a few plant containers and keep your workload very light.
- Think about what your lawn is adding to your house.
Front lawns arguably require more attention than your back garden, and it’s relatively easy to ignore them. If you’re debating whether your lawn is adding anything of value to your property, or just proving a nuisance, consider replacing it. This is easier said than done and takes time, but adding, for example, a resin driveway, block paving driveway or gravel pathway will mean you have far less to worry about. If you want to keep some plants out front, consider wide plant beds, border shrubs, spring bulbs or regional plants that don’t require much garden maintenance.
- Use your space wisely.
The idea of low maintenance landscape gardening is to maximise the use of your green space. Ask yourself, what are you interacting with the most? Make sure to focus on one or two key things, and keep your other maintenance priorities as light as possible. Consider using artificial grass instead of real grass to save time mowing it, as an example. Or perhaps swap out the neediest plants with shrubs, which don’t require regular watering, and add a mulch layer on top to save on removing weeds.
- Add compost to your soil.
Feeding and watering plants is vital, but you need to show the same attention to the soil if you want your plants to look nice. By adding compost, your plants can digest their plant food more easily, and you don’t need to add this more than once every year.
- Consider using a sprinkler system.
It’s not a low maintenance garden unless you have technology working in your favour. Setting up a sprinkler that will cover as many of your plants as possible, you don’t have to spend time dragging the hose around. Of course, it’s still worth checking your plants to ensure they’ve actually received enough water, but a sprinkler saves heaps of time and effort.
Everyone deserves a lovely garden area to relax in, and hopefully, you’re inspired by some of our ideas above. Gardening doesn’t have to be insufferable and time-consuming, but by making the duties light and easy to start with, you can end up enjoying it.
That being said, we know time is precious for many homeowners. Therefore, if you want to seek the help of professional, accredited, experienced landscape contractors, then speak to DPM Design & Build.
