Low maintenance gardens
No matter how small or large your outside space, you can make it look delightful with minimal effort
To start, fill some containers with peat-free compost and pop in some plants and you've prettied things up immediately...you can order online or nip to your local garden centre. Container gardening is great if you have very limited space, such as a balcony, patio or just some window sills
Most of us want a garden we can enjoy, but not all of us have the time or gardening expertise needed to cultivate splendour. British Garden Centres has put together some simple ideas we can all try to achieve that little bit more outside, whatever the size of the space we have.
Start with containers
Container gardening involves no digging, no difficult soil and very little weeding to worry about. Lavender is a great plant to start with, because it's fragrant, drought tolerant and bees love it. In summer geraniums are fabulous as are petunias. Heuchera offers year-round interest with its striking foliage, trailing lobelia tumbles beautifully over the edge of pots all summer, and sedums are virtually impossible to kill in a sunny spot.
For shady corners, hostas are good in pots...less so planted direct into soil because slugs do love them. Given hose pipe bans, look out for containers with built-in self-watering reservoirs as they keep plants watered without incurring the wrath of neighbours.
Plant perennials
Perennials come back year after year without needing to be replaced, slowly filling borders and genuinely getting better with age. Rudbeckia brings cheerful golden-yellow flowers from late summer into autumn, while Echinacea produces bold, daisy-like blooms in pinks and purples that pollinators adore.
Geranium 'Rozanne' is a real workhorse as it flowers for months on end and spreads gently to cover bare ground. Salvia nemorosa and Crocosmia 'Lucifer' both deliver real drama with almost no effort, and once you have a good mix established, a perennial border largely looks after itself.
Scatter wildflower seeds
A wildflower patch is possibly the most effortless garden project there. Scratch over a small patch of ground, scatter your seeds, lightly rake them in, and simply wait. Look for mixes that include Ox-eye Daisy, Corn Poppy, Cornflower and Field Scabious as they all self-seed readily, attract bees and butterflies in good numbers, and many will return entirely on their own the following year, making this a garden feature that gets easier over time.
Lay stepping stones
A simple path of stepping stones protects your lawn from heavy foot traffic, keeps mud out of the house in wetter months, and can make even a modest garden feel much bigger if you let it curve gently through the space. Tuck a few low-growing thyme or chamomile plants between the stones for a lovely fragrance when you walk over them and combine with gravel for a finish that's both attractive and weed-resistant.
Mulching
Give over one afternoon to the task of mulching and you won't have to weed for months. A layer of bark chippings, garden compost or gravel spread over borders suppresses weeds before they get started, locks moisture into the soil so you water less often and gradually improves the soil structure as it breaks down. Aim for around five centimetres deep, applied in spring or autumn, and keep it clear of direct contact with plant stems.
Add shrubs and ground cover plants
Shrubs are among the most underrated plants in a low maintenance garden, giving year-round structure and seasonal interest. Viburnum tinus flowers in winter, stays evergreen all year, and barely needs pruning. Hydrangea paniculata asks for just one cut in spring before producing spectacular blooms all summer. For bare ground between plants, spreading ground cover like Vinca minor, Alchemilla mollis and Geranium 'Rozanne' block out weeds naturally, letting plants do the work so you don't have to.
Julian Palphramand, head of plants at British Garden Centres, says people may neglect their gardens because they think looking after them is complicated: 'Or they feel gardening is time consuming or what's the point if there's only a balcony or very limited space. But even one container full of lavender on a doorstep looks great, as does a handful of wildflower seeds scattered in a sunny corner, or few perennials planted and left to settle in. These small acts of gardening make a real difference.. and anyone can do them. You just need to start with the space you have and rewards will follow very quickly.'
