A lot of people comment that I “must spend a lot of time working in the garden”, but truly I don’t. Well, I do, but that’s because I’m always busy with new projects, not because I spend a lot of time taking care of what is already planted!! It’s not hard to have a low maintenance garden, you just need to know the right plants and where to plant them.
My front “Welcome” garden really started to look established last year. For me, the front garden has to be particularly low-maintenance. I want a garden that is going to look great from the street (and also from the house), but I don’t spend as much time out front so it has to pretty much take care of itself. Last year I top-dressed it with compost in the spring, and honestly that’s about it. Here are the plants that are very successful at putting on a year-round show with almost no maintenance in my front garden:
In June, the Shasta daisies and bearded irises put on a nice show together. The irises don't bloom for long but their foliage looks nice all season. Watch out for some varieties of Shasta daisies which self-seed invasively! The newer variety “Becky” is well-behaved. I also have some ground-cover sedums and geraniums that spread, do well keeping the weeds down and bloom nicely in spring.
In July, the daisies are still going strong and now look good with veronica spicata, feather reed grass, and asiatic and LA hybrid lilies.
In August, the lilies are still going, the daylilies have started, and the ornamental grass has reached its full height.
In September, the daylilies are finishing and the sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is starting to turn colour.
In October, the daylily and euphorbia foliage are turning colour, and the sedum has reached its full colour. There’s a red-leaf rose in the background that I had just planted but will eventually be very big and has colourful, orange fall foliage.
In November, everything is finished except the asters, but there is still lots of textural interest and variety of colour thanks to the juniper and diabolo ninebark.
This year I am going to plant the other side and will have no grass left. Can't wait!! Some additional low-maintenance plants I have in mind are:
- liatris, echinacea, catmint, campanula glomerata, russian sage, yucca, bergenia, and more bearded iris, daylilies and sedum
You are so generous! I just love finding beautiful and artistic freebies like this. They really brighten up my day, thank you!
Posted by: Saleenadavid | July 17, 2010 at 03:25 AM
Oh! I love daisies. They look like very happy flowers to me. Haha! Anyway, I adore your garden so much because of the flowers you have. If I walk by your garden, I'll certainly feast my eyes on its beauty. It makes me smile!
Posted by: Jamie Keifer | February 18, 2012 at 06:56 AM
Thank you Jamie!
Posted by: Janice Miller-Young | February 20, 2012 at 10:38 AM