In my experience, some clients believe a low maintenance garden is a no maintenance garden and this is just unrealistic. No matter how well planned, every garden requires at least a little bit of maintenance. The no maintenance garden simply does not exist but it can be kept to a minimum. But how do we reduce the amount of time spent maintaining the garden and maximize the enjoyment we get from our outdoor space. Good planning and Good Plant Selection is the secret to success.
Don’t get me wrong, I love pottering around in my garden. However, I don’t want to be bound to working away every weekend, especially in summer, the warmest season of the year.
So, what does a high maintenance garden look like?
Regular care of trees and shrubs too large for the space. This means pruning branches simply to get to your car, picking up leaves and branches that seem to drop endlessly in yours and your neighbours’ over shaded gardens. Endless hedging of plant species that grow before your very eyes. Plants wilting or dying in the hot Australian sun, requiring daily watering. Large scale attack from pests and diseases due to inadequate sunlight.
What does a low maintenance garden really look like?
Good design can give you a low maintenance garden and will include plant species that are well placed for the dimensions of the garden bed areas. This ensures that plant species thrive, have low pruning requirements and low nutrient application rates.
Soil preparation prior to planting is essential and will give your plants adequate nutrients for establishment. The addition of mulch, once plants are planted, will reduce the weeding, water and fertilizing requirements in the future.
Plant selection for drought tolerance will reduce the need for extra watering and doesn’t have to be xeriscape, or include dry climate loving plants like Agaves and Yuccas in particular. You can create a low maintenance garden, no matter which Climate Zone you live in Australia, using the right plant selection and the support of a Landscape Designer.
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