The whole idea of a low maintenance garden is a
dream for the busy gardener. You may have a green thumb, but if you have a full
time job, a family and a house to look after, finding the time to get into the
garden and look after it can feel impossible. The last thing that you want to
do, is come home every day to a backyard that is totally overgrown and needing
love and attention that you just don’t have the time to give. The idea of a low
maintenance garden is so that you can create something beautiful, then kick
back and relax while it keeps on looking gorgeous all year around.
You may actually have a garden with your home,
but hate being outside in the garden at all! If you’re not interested in
spending time pruning the rose bushes and laying the flower beds, then you’ve
got your work cut out for you – unless, of course, you go for low maintenance.
We’re talking shingle beds instead of flower ones, metal buildings
to hold your tools and garden machinery, artificial lawns; you name it, you can
get it low maintenance. All you need to know is how to get there, so that you
can enjoy the garden space that you have with as little effort as possible.
We’ve put together some tips to get you exactly that!
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A true low maintenance garden
requires you to get rid of all the plants. It sounds drastic, we know, as a
garden is designed for flora, fauna and trees. Lots of people choose to pull
out every plant and every blade of grass, replacing them with the artificial
kind. If you love the sweet smell of lilies, then have some large planters of
lilies instead of a border full of them. Even if you don’t get rid of every
single plant your garden has, you can significantly reduce how much work your
garden takes by cutting back.
●
To take it bigger, remove the
entire lawn. Cutting and taking care of grass all year round is a challenge,
especially if you have a large garden. A healthy lawn takes an awful lot of
time and you don’t have to do any of it when artificial grass like this is on the market.
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Adding character to your garden
space is easy with arches, arbours and pergolas. They can honestly transform
your backyard without costing too much money or taking up too much of your
time.
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Choose outdoor furniture that
requires little maintenance. Wood always requires coating at least once a year
and metal is prone to rusting. Stone benches like this can bring character to your garden
as well as a place to sit.
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Add a little modernity to your
outdoor space with large steel troughs. You can choose to build a
little water feature or simply use them as outdoor planters. They change the
look of a natural garden to bring something more updated to the scene.
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The harder your outdoor landscape,
the easier it is to take care of. Shingle and stones are easier than grass, but
hard cement slabs are easier than shingle. Decking requires a lot of regular
cleaning and you will need to move gravel and shingle back into place if the
weather takes it up and splashes it across the garden. An outdoor broom on a
hook is perfect for an east clean up.
●
Hardwood furniture items in the
garden – should you want to stay away from stone – is easier to care for than
softwood, so check it out here before you buy.
The biggest aim of a gardener who wants a low
maintenance area is to relax in it. You don’t want to spend time on your knees
pulling weeds if you can avoid it, nor do you want to spend time painting
furniture with outdoor paint so that it’s safe from the rain. Gardens are and
can be a real place of happiness, relaxation and pleasure, but if you have the
type of garden that you cannot enjoy, it won’t be that place for you. The biggest mistake you could make is leaving
it to overgrow and look a state. A low maintenance garden may take a little
work to get there, but once you do you can kick back and enjoy your space any
day of the week. A little bit of forward thinking and planning and a lot of
effort can give you the space that you have always dreamed about.
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