Want a beautiful garden that you can show off to friends, family members and visitors but don’t have the time to pinch, prune, weed and water all spring and summer? Well believe it or not you can have the garden you want without the hassle of weekly maintenance and upkeep. Just follow these four tips for achieving the perfect low maintenance garden.

Say Goodbye to Grass

Your lawn is by far one of the most time-consuming, high-maintenance areas of your garden. It requires frequent watering, weeding and mowing. To really reduce the workload that goes into gardening, it’s best to replace grass with “hardscaping” alternatives such as gravel, pavers and stone.

Gravel is a great alternative. Unlike grass, which needs constant care and attention, gravel allows water to drain freely and requires very little, if any, maintenance throughout the summer. If you lay down landscape cloth before adding the gravel it will keep weeds at bay making it that much easier to maintain. Laying pavers and stone is another great way to reduce your garden’s to-do-list as it can create an aesthetically pleasing patio area that requires only a simple sweep from time to time.

If, to you, that patch of green grass is just something you can’t do away with completely, consider at least reducing the size of your lawn to make the maintenance more manageable.

Plant Perennials

If you are looking to save time when it comes to gardening then don’t plant flowers that require constant care. When you live a busy lifestyle the last thing you want to be doing is constantly watering your impatiens to keep them alive, or lifting and storing your delilah’s after each summer. To avoid these kinds of tedious tasks consider planting perennials. Unlike annuals, which have an expiration date of just one season, perennials can survive for many years. The top portions of perennial plants tend to die back each winter but will regrow again the following spring from the same root system. The ability for perennials to resurrect themselves saves you from having to replant your garden each spring. Low maintenance perennials include blanket flower, yarrow, and purple coneflowers, all of which can tolerate heat and drought and bloom all summer long.

Native Plants

Plants native to your region often require less maintenance and overall care than plants that originated in different regions or climates. They often need less fertilizer, water and pesticides. Putting native plants such as black-eyed Susan’s, butterfly milkweed, and New England aster in your garden will reduce your workload when it comes to tending to your garden.

Mulching

Nobody likes to spend too much time watering plants and pulling weeds. An easy way to avoid these time-consuming tasks is to make sure you are using the right mulch on your garden. Organic mulches that include evergreen needles, shredded leaves and woodchips conserve moisture in the soil, reduce weed problems, and add organic matter and nutrients to the soil as they break down. Laying mulch in your garden will reduce the amount of time spent on watering, weeding, and caring for the plants in your garden.

There you have it! If you live a busy lifestyle, spend a lot of time away from the house, or simply can’t be motivated to spend your down time literally down in the dirt weeding and pruning your garden, now you don’t have to! While all gardens will call for a little maintenance, the ones planted with these tips in mind will require less time labouring over it and more time admiring it.

For inspiration on what perennials to choose for your garden this season visit Planter’s Barn Wildflower House online at www.plantersbarn.ca or visit us in person at 5101 Dundas St., Thorndale, Ont.

Glass ornaments for gardens are hugely popular on Pinterest and make for highly likeable Instagram posts. The best part is that these fun crafts can be incredibly easy and inexpensive to make. Plus, they’ll look stunning as they sparkle in the sun next to your perennials
 
The Planter’s Barn team has come up with an easy and up-cycled DIY garden decor project that you can work on this spring.

All you need is:

• 1. Industrial Strength Adhesive or “super glue.”It can be purchased at your local craft store, Walmart or hardware store.
• 2. At least three coloured glass vases, mason jars, bottles, old glass christmas ornaments or wine glasses of different shapes and sizes from your recycling bin, the local dollar store, thrift store or garage sales. Vintage is an asset! The more colour, the better- especially if you want to attract butterflies
• 3. Paper towels
• 4. Your own unique artistic vision!

 
What to do:
Simply start by applying your industrial glue to the bottom of a larger, sturdier vase that will act as your base and affix a smaller, more decorative piece to it. Let it dry overnight on some paper towels before adding your next piece. We recommended that you glue a plate to the bottom of your creation to add stability. When you’re finished, dig a bit of a hole in your garden, place your piece in the hole and add dirt around it to stabilize it.

You can also add coloured pebbles (which can also be purchased at dollar stores and craft stores) to your creation. To add even even more flair, consider adding inexpensive solar lights from your dollar store to add even more shimmer.

Bonus tip: to avoid the accumulation of water and subsequent mould or mosquitoes, try to design your creation in a way that will allow water to drip down like a water fall. For instance, invert a bowl rather than using it upright.

 
Here are some examples:

These would look beautiful amidst a bed of lavender, liriope, or even mainacht, or, ideally, whatever perennials are native to your area. The Planter’s Barn team are experts when it comes to plants native to the Ontario region.

Happy crafting!