Creating an easy care
garden
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Low maintenance planting does not mean having
to resort to boring ground cover. If you want an uninterrupted sea of heather,
or of creeping Cotoneaster, that’s fine, but you can make your garden so
much more beautiful simply by varying your selection of ground cover plants.
Easy care plants can be as gorgeous as any other garden selection, but should
boast most, if not all of the following attributes:
An 'easy-care'
plant...
Needs no support
It
will either be short enough to stand free, or if tall, will have sturdy enough
stems to withstand windy conditions. Low plants include bugle (Ajuga), thymes,
creeping phloxes and rockery speedwell (Veronica prostrata). Taller plants
include mulleins (Verbascum), foxgloves (Digitalis) and an enchanting late
developer, ice plant (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’).
Must be disease
free
Healthy plants with natural resistance to pests and diseases are
essential. They must survive without any sprays or remedies. Disease resistant
shrubs include dwarf Rhododendrons, most Cotoneasters and Viburnums, and such
roses as the delicately scented ‘Flower Carpet White’. Most
herbaceous perennials are naturally resistant to most pests and diseases.
Catmint (Nepeta), lamb’s ears (Stachys), coral flower (Heuchera) and
thymes are particularly resilient. Among evergreens, conifers are easy, as are
Euonymus and periwinkle (Vinca).
Needs no
pruning
Pruning can be a time-consuming chore, especially with such
plants as hybrid tea roses. Go for non-pruning alternatives such as Japanese
Azaleas, Spiraeas, shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla) or the lovely yellow St
John’s wort (Hypericum ‘Hidcote’). Lavenders (Lavandula),
Hydrangeas and shrubby tree mallow (Lavateras) do need pruning, but only once a
year.
Will tolerate
neglect
Perennials that need regular lifting and dividing - Michaelmas
daisies (Aster), irises and primroses (Primulas) are examples - should be kept
to a minimum. Go for varieties that carry on regardless, such as spurge
(Euphorbias), elephant’s ears (Bergenia), catmint (Nepeta) and the lovely
spring-flowering lungwort (Pulmonaria). Plantain lily (Hosta), as long as the
slugs leave them alone, are excellent easy care plants.
Will survive
easily
Fight shy or fussy plants that will only survive in special
conditions. Go for robust species that seem irrepressible: Aubrieta, with their
long lasting spring displays are indestructible, as is the felty leaved
lamb’s ears (Stachys ‘Silver Carpet’). Among shrubs, try
barberry (Berberis darwinii) or any of the elders (Sambucus).
Will self-seed or
spread
You won’t want to replant every year, so tender annuals or
bedding plants are out, but give room to self-replicating annuals and
biennials. These will seed without becoming a nuisance, and will give very
brightly coloured displays. Shirley poppies (Papaver) and Californian poppies
(Eschscholzia), larkspurs (Delphinium), Clary, foxgloves (Digitalis) and
honesty (Lunaria) will provide years of trouble-free colour.
You don’t have to make your entire garden over to easy care
plants, but if most of it is undemanding, you can afford to dedicate a small
area to growing a few special plants.
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