While many people appreciate the appearance of beautifully manicured landscaping, the idea of spending a lot of time on maintenance can be the one thing that keeps them from even making an attempt in their own outdoor surroundings. With a busy routine each day, the thought of keeping up with mowing grass, pulling weeds, and watering plants in your occasional or limited downtime may seem especially distressing. These three issues, however, can be diminished or nearly eliminated with a few ingenious variations from the more traditional lawn and garden staples. Ultimately, your desire for low maintenance landscaping may be easier to create than you ever thought possible.
Many people find mowing the lawn to be an incredible chore, especially when the weather is warm, moist, and favorable for making grass grow quickly. There are several ways to lessen this burden, and one solution is to select a type of grass that grows more slowly. You may even forgo grass altogether in some areas of your lawn and replace the grass with clover. While clover may not be a traditional backyard covering, it requires little if any mowing, rarely needs to be watered, and tends to remain free of pesky weeds.
Another great way to get around cutting grass is by replacing it with strategically placed rock gardens, which allows you to remove the unwanted grass without having to reseed the areas with new plant material. While rocks obviously do not require watering, you may be able to devote more time to planning an attractive layout. You may even have rocks around your property that may be easily repositioned, or you may gather large boulders to create an especially appealing effect. If you want a touch of flowers or greenery, you can place plants in between spaces and crevices. Depending upon the plants you choose, this may reduce your maintenance to simply sprinkling a little water on your sporadically placed plants.
Using mulch is an ideal way to reduce or nearly eliminate your need to pull garden weeds. Mulch is portable, easy to work with, and comes in a variety of decorative colors. By placing mulch around your flowers you may control weed growth, and if you choose a showy color you may even let that be part of your landscaping statement in place of planting an abundance of flowers. Planting perennials or plants that are resistant to dry or other harsh conditions can mean less routine maintenance. As mulch also helps retain soil and moisture, your watering needs will likely be reduced regardless of what sort of plants you choose.
There are many ways beautify your surroundings, and landscaping can be as easy or as intense as you make it. Assessing your specific landscaping needs, considering how much time you will likely devote to maintenance and thinking creatively may lead you to many workable and satisfying solutions. A bit of planning and a little investment of time and resources at the start of gardening and lawn maintenance season may set the stage for having enjoyable but easily cared for outdoor surroundings.
