Three Plants for a Low Maintenance Garden Design

IThere are a number of benefits to working with landscaping services. For example, with a well-planned landscape design, you can use and enjoy as much of your property as possible for entertaining, relaxing and living. Additionally, professional landscaping is a good investment: realtors and landscaping companies estimate that a properly-maintained lawn can add 5 to 15% to the selling value of a home, resulting in an average return on investment of 258%. However, you may wonder how will you maintain your garden design on your own. Fortunately, there are a number of plants used for landscaping that are easy for any inexperienced gardener to care for. While local garden centers can typically recommend low maintenance plants for landscaping which work best in your area, here are some popular options that can help inspire some landscaping design ideas for your yard.

Hydrangeas
This pretty, flowering plant is much hardier than it might appear. Because it is tolerant of most soil conditions as long as there is moderate moisture, it can grow both tall and wide, making it the perfect statement for most yards. To care for this plant, gardeners simply need to plant this flower in an area with full sun or light shade, watering it regularly during dry spells in the summer. For homeowners willing to invest a little extra effort, adding dried coffee grounds and other acidic products, like fruit and vegetable peels, to the soil will turn a hydrangea’s blossoms a gorgeous blue color. Unfortunately, hydrangeas are not tolerant of salt and are also a deer’s favorite feast; because of this, they will need to be planted away from roads and oceanic areas and protected from grazing.

Avalanche Feather Reed Grass
Many gardeners adore ornamental grasses. And why shouldn’t they? These plants are tolerant of a number of conditions and provide an interesting contrast to flowers, shrubs and trees. Avalanche feather reed grass is a great example of this: a perennial with variegated green and white leaves, this plant also sprouts pink flowers in the summer. While avalanche feather read grass requires full sun and well-drained soil, it only requires regular water during dry spells. The plant does need to be mulched after a first frost and pruned to the ground in late winter, but for most of the year, this ornamental grass is extremely low-maintenance.

Grey Owl Juniper
This shrub is very common in most areas of the United States. Characterized by it’s interesting gray-green color, the grey owl juniper turns purple in winter. Like other low maintenance plants used for landscaping, this plant does not require work for most of the year: instead, once it is planted in full sun or light shade with moist but well-drained soil, gardeners only have to pay attention to its mulch. After the first hard frost, the juniper should be mulched heavily to prevent winter heaving. Then, in spring, this mulch should be pulled back. Because of its moist soil, however, it does not need to be regularly watered.

No matter what plants used for landscaping are in their yards, inexperienced or busy gardeners will likely benefit from hiring a landscaping company to perform annual or biannual maintenance work on their yard. However, with low maintenance plants and shrubs, the rest of the year can be spent enjoying the yard instead of worrying about proper pruning and other factors. Contact a landscaping company near you today to discuss creating a low maintenance garden design that is right for your area.