Do Low Maintenance Landscapes Truly Exist?
Many of my clients ask for a garden that will be easy to care for. But do low maintenance landscapes truly exist? That’s the subject of this blog post.
What Do People Mean By Low Maintenance Landscapes?
Low maintenance is quite a subjective term. It means different things to different people. I’m sure that many garden designers will agree that when their clients ask fo a low maintenance garden, they mean an outdoor space that virtually looks after itself. No mowing, no weeding, no watering and no pruning. But is that really possible? I’m not sure it is, not if you want a garden that truly nurtures the soul.
When I’m asked to design a low maintenance garden, my first goal is to find out exactly what the clients mean. That way I can minimise the need for jobs that they don’t feel able to tackle and adapt the design to what they feel will be manageable.
For example. Mowing the lawn. Do I design a garden with no natural grass, or would they consider installing a robotic mower?
Weeding and pruning. Is it that they don’t have time for these jobs, or is it the bending and stretching they can’t manage? If it’s the latter, including raised beds in the design might allow them to engage with their gardens without pain or worry. If it’s the former, careful plant choices can easily minimise horticultural tasks to just a few hours a year.
With its hard landscaping surfaces and carefully chosen planting, this garden will be relatively easy to maintain. Just an occasional sweep of the patio in autumn and cutting back the grasses in early spring.
Why Do People Ask For Low Maintenance Gardens?
There are all sorts of reasons for wanting a garden to be as easy to manage as possible. Lack of time and lack of confidence in their ability to care for a space are top of the list. Then there are people with physical limitations. Some lucky folk have holiday homes and cannot be there for regular gardening tasks such as mowing and watering. My job as a garden designer is not to pass judgement, rather it is to help those people create a space that makes them feel good in every way possible.
Designing Low Maintenance Landscapes
Paving and artificial grass are possibly the first things that spring to mind when anyone mentions low maintenance landscapes. However, a garden with just hard surfaces and nothing to stimulate the senses could easily resemble a prison yard.
I always try to think outside of the box and introduce colour, texture, sound, movement, light and shade into a garden design. These can usually be done without necessarily creating a lot of ongoing gardening work for the homeowner.
- A good balance of hard landscaping to soft landscaping helps a space to feel comfortable. I always try to include plants in a plan – even if they are in pots and planters.
- Garden lighting requires very little maintenance and can create a wonderful ambience.
- Mixing and matching hard landscaping surfaces brings texture into a design and can help to delineate different zones within a garden.
- Use the art of hide and reveal to generate interest.
- Think in 3D – include fences, pergolas and garden walls in the design.
- Bring water into the equation. It is both calming and cooling.
- Resting places, hand rails and other mobility aids help build confidence so that less mobile clients can still enjoy their gardens.
The texture and pattern of paving in this garden creates a good level of interest while a small, manageable lawn helps to make the space feel inviting and welcoming.
A Stitch In Time Saves Nine. Changing Gardening Habits To Reduce The Workload
Have you ever seen those TV programs where some poor soul has neglected their housework for so long that it takes an army of brave people in hazard suits three days to make the place habitable again? Sometimes at the end of the program the householder is encouraged to get into a simple routine of cleaning and tidying that really doesn’t take them much time at all. It prevents clutter building up to the point where they are too overwhelmed to tackle it.
Well, caring for a garden works on similar principals.
Once your garden has been landscaped and made manageable, getting into the habit of tweaking out weeds as soon as they appear, sweeping the patio a couple of times a month and tidying away debris on a regular basis is all it needs to prevent that feeling of overwhelm. Leaving weeds to grow to waist height, letting dead leaves accumulate on the ground and forgetting to water young plants will result in a chaotic mess that will take several hours to fix.
As a garden designer and landscaper, I normally take the time to discuss ongoing maintenance with my clients BEFORE I start building the garden. Then, at the end of the build, I remind them how to care for each element of their outdoor space. It’s about empowering them to look after and enjoy their investment.
Careful garden design and landscaping would make this garden easier to manage and therefore more usable
I personally don’t believe that NO maintenance garden truly exist, however, with careful consideration to the client’s abilities, LOW maintenance landscapes are perfectly achievable given a reasonable budget to work with.
