Low Maintenance Gardens

I am often asked for a garden to be low maintenance, but what does this mean in reality?
It is impossible to have planting that is maintenance free as all plants grow and change and some pruning is often required to keep the plant in shape - and healthy! However, good plant selection, soil preparation, mulching and construction of hard landscaping can affect how low maintenance the garden really is.

Plant selection:

Plants should always be selected to suit the conditions. This will reduce watering if it is a dry spot or too sunny for the plant. Plants in the wrong place will often grow poorly and will need digging out and replacing over time.

Plants have different growth habits, some grow quickly and can quickly take over your garden, whilst other are slow growing and need less pruning.

Although growth rates differ in different soils and conditions, I try to plant for a 4-5 year time span i.e. in that time the plants will mesh together. Longer than this and for the first few years, the garden will look bare as the plants are a long way apart, shorter than this and pruning will be required more often.

Whilst it may be tempting to have as many different varieties of plants in your garden as possible, using larger blocks of fewer varieties will make the maintenance easier. It will also give the planting areas more impact, especially if viewed from a distance, and repetition of the same variety or colour can draw your eye around the garden.

Avoid plants that self seed or spread easily or you will constantly be pulling out seedlings and reducing the size of overgrown plants.

Planting Areas:

It is important for soil to be prepared properly at the outset as this will give a good environment for the plants to live in and keep them healthier and more able to take up water and nutrients. It is much more difficult to improve a soil once the plants are in place.

Weeds can be restricted by laying mulch once a year. The mulch will also help to limit evaporation of water from the soil and so you do not need to water as much. The correct mulch can also help to improve the soil structure over time as worms take it down into the topsoil. I would avoid using a landscape geotextile membrane (unless you are putting a gravelled area on top) as it is difficult to improve the soil once it is down and it often starts to rise at the corners and can look unsightly.

Plants that require high levels of maintenance:

Avoid anything that is tender and needs bringing under cover over Winter e.g. Cannas.
Avoid plants in containers and hanging baskets that will need watering frequently.
Annuals are high maintenance in that they need replacing every year and have shallow root systems that can dry out quickly, so need watering more often.

Plants that require moderate levels of maintenance:

Most perennials need cutting back once or maybe twice a year e.g. geraniums, but otherwise they are pretty maintenance free as long as you don't use varieties that self seed or spread easily.
Some perennials need staking so avoid these if possible.

Many deciduous shrubs will benefit from a prune once a year.  Often they can be renovated if they too large for their allotted space.

Most grasses usually only require cutting back once a year but some can be prolific self seeders, especially on windy sites.

Plants that required low levels of maintenance:

Most evergreen shrubs e.g. Box, are really low maintenance, once they are in, just let them grow. Some may want a trim every year but most people find this easier than the more complex pruning of a deciduous shrub. However, only a few evergreens add colour to the garden so adding some of the moderate maintenance plants can help create all year interest.

Some perennials stay evergreen and need very little attention e.g. Ophiopogons. Bamboos are also low maintenance as long as the roots of the spreading varieties are restricted.

Lawns:

Whilst lawns are relatively cheap and easy to lay, they can sometimes be high maintenance, especially in small gardens where some form of hard landscaping or low maintenance planting would make the garden easier to manage.
I find that most people find it difficult to envisage living without at least a small area of lawn - to some it is a soft green carpet on which to walk bare foot, or somewhere that children can play without the risk of hurting themselves.
However, in a small garden lawns can get worn out very quickly, and quite often get little light so they become more like patches of moss (which you may or may not like!)
Also, unless you let the lawn grow long, it will not encourage wildlife like plants can.
In terms of design I find that quite often, the requirement for a large area of lawn in the middle of a garden, restricts the opportunities for breaking up the garden and creating a more interesting design.

Hard landscaping:

The thing I find that most people get annoyed about is weed growth between butt jointed paving stones. I would recommend mortar pointing between paving stones to prevent this, if budget allows.

If gravel is laid, it should be over a semi permeable landscape facbric to prevent weed growth.

Garden features:

Open water can be high maintenance especially if the pond is not ecologically balanced. Even self circulating water features will need a clean now and again as algae will grow on any surface where there is a thin film of water.

“We were really impressed with the design service offered by Jayne. Jayne was able to take our initial brief and translate this into a stunning contemporary design that really made the most of the small space we had and provided a great backdrop to our new kitchen extension. The combination of hard landscaping and planting have completely transformed the garden. Over several meetings she was able to communicate the concepts and hone the design and even sample materials. She then recommended and then liaised with the landscaper to ensure the implementation went to plan before completing the final planting.”

Mrs Fenner
Marston Moretaine

"I found Jayne to be very friendly and pleasant to work with. The design is lovely - very attractive. I was impressed with Jayne's willingness to adapt to and take account of our cost constraints and likes and dislikes regarding plants. All work was carried out efficiently and pleasantly. Jayne was always ready to discuss and advise about design and plants and has transformed a boring and rather difficult small garden into an interesting area which will only improve as the plants grow and mature."

Mr & Mrs Barwell
Welwyn Garden City

We love our garden now. Our two dogs had pretty much destroyed it and it had become an embarrassment. We never used it, not even just for ourselves. It now has structure and a proper patio area and is always good to look at even in this bleak weather!

This will be our second spring with it and I'm really looking forward to seeing everything grows again and how it will change this year.

Mr & Mrs Crooke
Flitton

Jayne was always totally reliable, whether coming out to look at the garden or providing plans and ideas, and is a very knowledgeable plantswoman.

She had a good understanding of what I wanted to do with the garden, and always listened to my ideas and then made suggestions that were appropriate to the location and aspect.

Mr & Mrs Townsend
Houghton Conquest

Jayne's ideas of how to transform a long straight garden into something more interesting were quite inspirational. By introducing shape and perspective the garden now has structure.

The planting plan she suggested has added interest and constant colour which changes with the season.

Needless to say we are delighted.

Mr & Mrs Collier
Pulloxhill

We were delighted with Jayne's approach to our garden and her understanding of what we were trying to achieve.

Her knowledge of plants and what will actually work is fantastic.

Three years on we are still delighted with our garden.

Mr & Mrs Bryant
Pulloxhill

Jayne has a real passion for gardening and her knowledge of plants is highly impressive. She seems to know exactly which plant will thrive in a particular part of the garden - sunny, shady, soil type and so on. She also thinks about the proportions and overall effect.

To work with, she is extremely flexible and happy to give you just the bits of advice or help you need.

Mel Henson
Welwyn Garden City