Hassle-Free Gardens

By Leigh Maisenbacher

Would you love to have a colorful garden that you could enjoy without spending all of your free time working in it? With a little information about the right plants and procedures, you can have exactly that.

In order to have a low-maintenance garden, follow these tips:

+ Reduce the size of your lawn or eliminate it entirely (less mowing).

+ Prepare the soil well before planting.

+ Pick plants that are known to be reliable and problem free and won't get too large for the space you have.

+ Mulch to reduce weeds and conserve soil moisture.

+ Install an automatic system if you live where it is necessary to water.

To research what plants will work best for you, start by making a list of plants that you like. Then look up the plants in gardening books, magazines or on the Internet and find out if local conditions will suit them, what size they will grow to be and if they have any special needs. Cross off any from your list that will not work for your environment or require too much maintenance.

Some low-maintenance plants that you might want to consider include bird's nest, dwarf Serbian, Japanese holly, Korean boxwood, dwarf Japanese garden junipers and deciduous cinquefoil. While the spruce varieties bird's nest and dwarf Serbian never need pruning, Japanese holly and Korean boxwood are both broad-leaved evergreens that require little maintenance and grow to nine and three feet respectively. With no effort at all, dwarf Japanese garden junipers grow into a bright green mounding carpet and deciduous cinquefoil flourish into a 2x3 foot bank that flowers continuously from early summer to frost. It is especially good to use for borders and groundcovers in cold-climate gardens. In warmer areas, Feston rose makes a great substitute.

When you prepare a new bed, make sure you pull all the weeds, including the roots. If you'd like, you can add a layer of woven garden fabric. However, keep in mind that the weeds will still be able to grow through the openings made for the plant. Mulch is very useful as a weed restraint as well. You can spread a 2 to 3-inch layer of shredded bark between the plants.

Korean boxwood, left, and Japanese holly, above, are compact growers that need little maintenance and grow into attractive mounding shrubs. Below, a Japanese garden juniper cascades over a stone wall.

Water and fertilizer are necessary for all plants, even those that require minimal maintenance. A little water over a long period of time is better than a lot of water over a short period. To make fertilizing easy, use controlled-release fertilizers or apply water-soluble fertilizers automatically through your irrigation system. For garden benches or fencing, use cedar or other rot-resistant wood.

That's all there is to it! See how easy it is to have a hassle-free garden that you can enjoy.