Low-Maintenance Plants For A Hassle-Free Landscape
Creating an attractive garden may seem like a lot of work, but it does not have to take a lot of time if you make the right planting choices. A large bulk of garden maintenance is dedicated to plant care.
Tasks such as watering, pruning, and fertilising are often required to ensure your garden continues to thrive throughout the seasons. However, with low-maintenance plants, these tasks are drastically reduced, giving you more time to enjoy your garden and the seasonal blooms without working for it.
As a leading landscape gardener, Beautiful Spaces knows what it takes to keep your garden looking its best. While we love our work, we know that not a lot of homeowners have a similar passion for gardening, but also do not want to be without an attractive outdoor space.
To ensure you can enjoy a thriving garden throughout the seasons without the effort, we are sharing the best low-maintenance plants in this post. No matter your garden design or theme, there are low-maintenance plants available to create the hassle-free landscape of your dreams.
The Best Low-Maintenance Plants For Simple Gardens
There are various kinds of low-maintenance plants available to help you create an attractive, vibrant garden without the traditional levels of work. Garden maintenance can be rewarding, but it is something many people simply do not have time for. Whether you run a busy household, have accessibility issues or are simply not interested in gardening, you no longer have to suffer with a struggling outdoor space.
These low-maintenance plants can bring life and colour to your garden without the need for constant upkeep:
Hardy Perennials For Effortless Colour
Perennials are plants that will return to your garden year after year, making them an ideal solution for low-maintenance landscapes. These plants provide lasting colour and visual appeal to your garden and remain a focal point in flower beds for years to come:
- Stonecrop (Sedum): With its waxy green leaves and pink flowers, sedum is a great addition to low-maintenance flower beds and borders. This is a hardy plant that can thrive in poor soil conditions and shaded areas, making it suitable for a range of outdoor spaces.
- Hellebores: This low-maintenance plant is incredibly attractive and a great way to signal the start of a new gardening season. Hellebores bloom early in the spring and require minimal care to continue thriving throughout the season.
- Geraniums: A classic addition to flower beds, borders and containers, geraniums are long-flowering, low-maintenance plants that look great in a range of locations. These are incredibly easy to grow and will remain a staple in your garden for years to come.
Ornamental Grasses For Texture And Movement
Ornamental grasses are some of the best low-maintenance plants to add texture and movement to your garden. They are incredibly easy to grow and require little to no pruning, making them suitable for containers and flower beds alike.
While they are a staple in contemporary outdoor spaces, ornamental grasses can suit all kinds of landscapes, with options such as:
- Mexican Feathergrass (Stipa tenuissima): This is an incredibly versatile ornamental grass that adds a lot of movement to your planting displays. The tall, feathered grasses will flow in even the slightest breeze and continue to thrive in a range of conditions.
- Silvergrass (Miscanthus): Silvergrass is an incredibly tall ornamental plant that produces lush green grass and occasional pink flowers during the blooming season. It is a great way to add lasting height and structure to borders, flower beds and other planting displays.
- Festuca glauca: Also known as blue fescue due to its unique colour, this is a great way to add both texture and vibrancy to even the simplest planting areas. It is a compact plant that requires no pruning or shaping and has a striking structure that remains a focal point for years to come.
Evergreen Shrubs For Style And Structure
Shrubs are commonly used in garden design for structure and screening, but they can also be an incredible visual enhancement in a range of spaces. While a lot of shrubs require pruning and shaping, some low-maintenance options remain healthy and attractive without any additional care, such as:
- Hebe: This is a compact evergreen shrub that produces pink, purple or white flowers in the spring and summer. It is a highly attractive, low-maintenance plant that offers seasonal interest and long-lasting greenery without ongoing pruning and shaping.
- Box (Buxus): Box hedges are a classic shrub that looks great in both front and back gardens. While it is more commonly found in traditional or classic garden designs, the lasting green foliage and simply shaped hedges can also complement other landscapes that are seeking a simple adornment or natural privacy screening.
- Lavender: A staple in British gardens, lavender is primarily known for its purple flowers and fragrant scent, but it is also one of the best low-maintenance shrubs. The foliage remains throughout the year and can cover large areas over time if planted in flower beds or borders. Popular with pollinators such as bees and butterflies, lavender creates a lively atmosphere in your garden without ongoing maintenance.
Suppress Weeds With Ground Cover Plants
Ground covers can be used to replace lawns or cover large areas within the garden, so you have an attractive outdoor space without the effort. Most ground cover plants are low-maintenance as they are low-growing and can offer additional benefits, such as weed suppression.
Ground covers can be used similarly to mulch in flower beds, as planting alongside other species can reduce weeds and help maintain soil conditions. By using these low-maintenance plants, you can enjoy a healthier garden without working for it:
- Pachysandra: These low-maintenance plants can create a lush evergreen carpet of foliage across your garden when left unattended. It can be invasive, so it needs to be monitored when growing near other plants or structures, but pachysandra remains low-growing at around 15cm in height, reducing the need for mowing or pruning.
- Bugleherb (Ajuga): A hardy perennial, this ground cover plant produces beautiful purple flowers and is a wonderful tool for weed suppression. As the plant grows densely over the soil, it prevents any weeds from growing in the same space, giving you less to worry about.
- Thyme: While it is mainly used as a herb, thyme is a great ground cover plant that suppresses weeds and reduces garden maintenance. It is low-growing and hardy, thriving in a range of conditions, while also producing a beautiful aroma to complement your outdoor activities.
Conclusion
Creating a hassle-free garden can be easy when relying on low-maintenance plants. Plants such as evergreen shrubs, hardy perennials and ground covers can help reduce gardening tasks without compromising the health or appearance of your outdoor space. Without the need for constant watering, pruning and fertilising, you have more time to enjoy the outdoors with loved ones – and space to breathe in your busy routine.
Beautiful Spaces is a leading landscaping company, offering professional garden maintenance, garden design and landscape gardener services. We can make gardening easier by covering all requirements for you or designing a low-maintenance garden from the outset. We have helped many clients across the region and are ready to take on your next project.
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FAQs
How can I keep my garden low-maintenance throughout the seasons?
Using low-maintenance plants such as drought-tolerant plants, weed-suppressing ground covers, and evergreen shrubs to reduce the need for seasonal maintenance. With these plants, your garden will continue to look great throughout the year as these plants do not change.
What are the easiest plants to grow in the UK?
Perennials such as lavender, geraniums, and sedum are some of the easiest plants to grow in UK gardens because they thrive in most soil conditions and require little care.
Can I create a colourful, low-maintenance garden?
Yes! Various plants and flowers can be used to create a colourful but low-maintenance garden. Use perennials, flowering evergreen shrubs, and ornamental grasses in various shades to make your garden diverse but easily maintained.
