| Most homeowners are looking for ways to reduce | | | | size of the plot. |
| the amount of time and money expended on the | | | | Climbers and Vines |
| garden. The demand for a garden that is low in its | | | | Rampant vines - the plants that create an |
| maintenance requirements is one of the first things | | | | unmanageable tangle - really make gardening work a |
| the designer or garden contractor tends to hear | | | | pain in the neck, (not to speak of another part of |
| from prospective clients. Yet on the other hand, | | | | the anatomy) or cause you to spend a lot of money |
| most people associate the term garden with the | | | | on a gardener to clear up the chaos. Because they |
| growing and enjoying of plants, which invariably | | | | tend to grow rapidly, often covering walls, fences |
| involves at least some care, attention and | | | | and other surfaces without assistance, the |
| maintenance. | | | | widespread illusion is that are low maintenance plants. |
| While a garden almost bare of plants is a definite | | | | As the unsuspecting find out to their cost, the exact |
| design option, and would be easy maintain, it is hardly | | | | opposite is usually the case. My suggestion is to avoid |
| what the average homeowner has in mind when | | | | such plants like the plague. Shrubs and bushes with |
| dreaming of having a garden. How then can one have | | | | neat form, and delicate foliage are both easier to |
| plenty of garden plants in the backyard, without it | | | | handle, although they need regular clipping, and are |
| becoming both a time and money liability? On this | | | | more suited aesthetically, to the small space of the |
| subject, many myths abound, so let's start | | | | average backyard plot. |
| demolishing them right now! | | | | Lawns |
| Weed Control | | | | Contrary to popular opinion, lawns are relatively east |
| Dealing with weeds is on average the single most | | | | to maintain, providing the contours of the grass are |
| time-consuming horticultural activity. For this reason, | | | | simple and the lines clean. Squiggly edges are difficult |
| many people cover the ground between the plants | | | | to keep neat and eat up valuable time and trouble. |
| with a mulch of decorative stones or pebbles, in the | | | | Edging materials make work with the mechanical |
| anticipation that this prevents weeds from emerging. | | | | strimmer ("weed whacker") easier and more efficient. |
| Admittedly, weeds are retarded to some extent, but | | | | A practice that leads to more problematical |
| overall, dealing with those that inevitably grow | | | | maintenance is to plant the hedging or border plants |
| through the pebbles, becomes harder not easier. | | | | too close to the grass, although plants spilling over |
| Decorative organic mulches like wood chippings are | | | | onto the lawn add a more flowing, natural feel to the |
| better at keeping down the weeds by inhibiting the | | | | garden. As usual, the good things in life cost some |
| germination of weed seeds. | | | | time and money. |
| Choosing Trees | | | | Bedding Plants |
| There are many criteria to consider when choosing | | | | The great myth in gardening is that herbaceous |
| an ornamental or fruit tree for the garden, but from | | | | perennials require less care and attention, while |
| the low maintenance angle, the tree should be small | | | | annuals are much more labor intensive. A few |
| enough to allow for pruning without having to call in a | | | | perennials admittedly, are relatively stable elements in |
| tree surgeon at enormous expense every few years. | | | | the garden, like Agapanthus or most ornamental |
| So before planting a plane tree that is going to reach | | | | grasses, but as a rule, a border based on perennials |
| over 20 meters in maturity, think about how you are | | | | will take up more time, (cutting back, dividing, |
| going to look after it in the years to come. In any | | | | transplanting etc) than one replaced en masse two or |
| case, a common design mistake is to choose a tree | | | | three times a year with annuals. |
| that is too large and therefore out of scale with the | | | | |