Lazy Gardeners

There's nothing wrong with wanting to have a low maintenance garden which is more for leisure than graft.  If you're planning a carefree garden think about how you want the space to work for you and your lifestyle.

Do you want to entertain in the garden, relax, or provide a play area for a young family?  Decide the prime purpose for the garden then start looking for the furniture and equipment that will serve your needs best.

Think about use of hard landscaping such as paving, screed or decking and then punctuate the space and add drama, nature and colour with a few well-chosen architectural plants.  These can be kept in pots or planted directly.  Does your garden get a lot of sun or shade, is it sheltered or exposed?  Is it quite dry or boggy?  The choice of plants should suit the general conditions of the soil and the position of the garden.

Under borders and hard-landscaping, make sure you have weed-suppressing membrane to stop unwanted plants taking hold.  Low maintenance plants include evergreens.  This means they maintain interest throughout the year.  Euonymus is great against a wall and the fortunei variety is easy to grow and tolerance of most fertile soils.

Our obelisks provide a touch of drama amongst the planting and don't forget that the whole purpose of plant supports is to protect and preserve many varieties of plants and to show them at their best, maintaining good levels of control, especially in borders.

Bergenia is an evergreen perennial with large ground level leaves giving good cover and several grouped together can reduce weeds.  Heathers are trouble-free with only a trim necessary immediately after flowering to keep them in check; promoting further growth and providing colour in summer.