Low maintenance
gardening
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Selecting the right varieties of
plants can save hours of heartache and hard work. Make your plants do the work;
free-seeding annuals, self-clinging climbers and perennials that survive for
years without being divided are all examples.
Avoid pest or disease-prone
plants or varieties that need regular pruning. Pick herbaceous plants which do
not need supporting or training.
Steer clear of invasive
plants and of those which will not thrive without regular attention. For
isolated containers consider robust plants such as Sedums or houseleeks - which
do not need constant watering.
If you are worried that a new plant might prove invasive, grow it
in a container for its first season and see how it does. If you don't like it,
you'll find it easier to discard the container than to eradicate troublesome
roots from your soil.
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Go for hardiness: Choose
plants that you know will survive winter in your area without needing extra
protection. If your garden is exposed, plant accordingly.
Naturalistic
plantings
If you allow hardy annuals such as poppies, cornflowers,
larkspurs, pot marigolds, Nigella, Eschscholzia and the enchanting little
poached egg plant, Limnanthes douglasii to seed themselves around, they will
develop self-sustaining colonies which pop up year after year. Biennials such
as foxgloves, mulleins and sweet Williams can be allowed to propagate
themselves this way too.
Although self-seeding colonies
are easy to maintain - they plant themselves - you will need to keep a watchful
eye for weeds.
Try this technique among
shrubs, or in a mixed border, or perhaps while your other ground cover plants
are establishing themselves.
Avoid thick, heavy mulches where you wish plants to
self-seed.
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