For a busy family, the garden is one of the most important parts of the home. It’s the place for playtime, coffee break time, BBQs, entertaining and unwinding from work stress. But it’s also the place that needs the most continuous maintenance to keep it looking nice.
Making time to keep everything trimmed, mowed, cleaned, and pruned is almost impossible. So, when you’re thinking of giving the garden a much-needed makeover, how do you keep it low-maintenance without compromising on the charm?
LAY A NEW LAWN
The lawn is possibly the one family space that you don’t want to compromise on. Kids can’t play happily on completely paved or gravelled areas. But low maintenance shouldn’t mean no green spaces.
Apart from mowing and seasonal maintenance such as moss and weed removal, the lawn shouldn’t be too much of a headache. If you’re creating a lawn from scratch, then you are looking at turf laying prices from around £650 for a medium-sized garden, but if you’re planning to do the work yourself, it will be considerably cheaper.
THE SEATING AREA
Decking is a popular choice these days to create a nice seating area, but in terms of maintenance it can take up more of your time. Wood needs to be kept in top condition to ensure it lasts. A well-laid patio might be a better choice for busy lifestyles.
Patio paving doesn’t have to look dull and drab in grey concrete. Pick tiles or slabs in warm tones or go for stones of varying sizes to create a more natural look.
CONTAINER PLANTING
Many low maintenance gardens now have gravelled areas to help keep weeds down. Although these are handy, they aren’t as pretty as traditional borders. This needn’t be a problem, however. The addition of pretty containers with some simple planting will help soften the harshness of the gravel and add more colour.
Containers have the added advantage of creating a bit of height to an otherwise flat garden. Grouped together and planted up with tall flowers, you can create the feeling of a pretty cottage garden.
THE LITTLE DETAILS
Adding some finishing touches to your low maintenance garden will help to make it more appealing. If the space is still looking a little bit flat and you don’t want to add too many time-consuming plants, you could consider some artificial hanging baskets.
Another low maintenance feature to think of adding is a bird bath. These can look quite ornate for very little money.
