Does a low maintenance garden REALLY exist?

I should start this post with first answering the question ‘does a no maintenance garden exist?’ which is as simple as ‘no, it does not’. As with anything in life, any garden will need some form of attention paid to it from one time or another, even if it’s as bleak as a block of concrete – leaves will blow in, cracks will occur etc. etc.

As for low maintenance gardens, it really depends on what your expectations are. One persons version of a low maintenance garden could be 1-2 hours a week, whereas another person could consider 1-2 hours a month too much. So where do you sit?

I believe we should rephrase the concept altogether. We should be looking at it as time being spent caring for the garden, as giving the space love and attention to enable it to be the best it can possibly be for you. The time spent in the garden can be such a rewarding experience, so much to be learned and marvelled at.

Have you ever discovered a miner bee just as it’s emerging out of it’s small burrow in the ground? Or possibly basked in the glory of the 8ft abundance of flowers on a rambling rose you planted when it was just a few inches tall? Or pinched off a sprig of rosemary to pop in your gin and tonic on a warm evening sat in the garden with friends, from a herb bed you’d spent a little time weeding earlier that day? The small amount of time you’ve put into your outdoor space makes all these experiences that much sweeter as they’ve come about because of your efforts.

Now I know I’m not going to convert you straight away to loving garden work (in reality there are only a very few people who enjoy weeding and I’m not one of them!) and you don’t need to love it, I’m just asking you to see the value in it.

There are some tricks you can employ to reduce the care and attention required in your garden so that you can still enjoy a beautiful outdoor space without the need for that bleak concrete block. Mulching your garden beds once or twice a year can greatly reduce the time spent weeding. Another option can be to think differently about your lawn – let the space diversify, leaving the moss and clover to grow. I love moss and think that moss in a garden can totally transform the feel, making the garden an enchanting, magical space. As for clover, it’s way more drought tolerant than grass, it takes mowing well, doesn’t grow too tall and is really great for pollinators. Also, working with the mantra ‘right plant, right place’ really helps reduce time (and money). Choosing the right plants for the space means you’re working with nature rather than fighting against it, less time spent watering and pandering to the plants is a winner in my book. Your plants are much more likely to flourish without the need for too much intervention.

There are, of course, many considerations you can make at the design stage to reduce the time required caring for your garden in the future which depend on your space and how you’d like to use your garden.  These will be in another blog post for another day (so make sure you come back and check them out!).

For now, let’s reconsider the thinking surrounding mundane maintenance in the garden and see it as time being well spent that will be repaid to you in spades.