Comments on: Plant low maintenance perennials to create an uncluttered garden

By: cher

cher — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:40:30 +0000

wow..all great ideas. I have a sunny backyard in northern IL stocked with great perennials that are deer & bunny resistant. One that is fabulous is the double knock out rose. It does not need deadheading and the reds are neon vibrant!! I also like Angelina sedum for its bright lime green contrast as a ground cover and around my roses I have hardy cranesbill/hardy geranium for ground cover. This year’s fav is Rozanne with large leaves and large blooms… And no one has mentioned tickseed/thread leaf coreopsis. I like Moonbeam and creme brulee esp. I also added money plant seeds in among my daffodils and as a bienniel, it should not pose a prob. For the butterfly bushes, I have dwarf ones which are not invasive. Did someone mention the garden’s most beautiful bully, BeeBalm or Monarda? It spreads so easily & you need to spray it occasionally with milk to avoid fungus/mold on it (as well as not water it late in the day) but some varieties actually are resistant to the powdery mildew. I also have cardinal flower/lobelia and blue vicgtoria salvia which the bunnies do not like. The dianthus I planted a few years ago continues to return every year so that might be a thought in your garden as well. No bunnies or deer there either.

good luck

By: Mary Rex

Mary Rex — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:47:46 +0000

The main thing is still to keep it simple. Perennials, (even low-maintenance ones) still require some work every year. Start small with a good design, (local garden centers will often do these for free) and add beds and plants as your abilities allow. I am removing beds and plants(free ‘Low-Maintenance’ perennials!!!)to simplify my life.

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:40:04 +0000

All of the ornamental salvias are very low maintenance and beautiful too. I am fond of planting annuals that reseed for me so that they do the sowing for me Sunflowers, cosmos, feverfew, cleomes, pansies, sweet alyssum larkspur are all wonderful reseeders. It makes for a little more relaxed look, more cottage like than ultra organized, but I like abundance in the garden and this is an easy way to get it.

I also like the newer low maintenance shrub roses. Knock-out and its variations are the most famous, but there are lots of these shrubby types that require no work really. Check with a local nursery for different types.

By: Mari

Mari — Mon, 26 May 2008 23:34:10 +0000

I live in the Northern Rockies Zone 3 and so finding perennials that are low maintenence is a challenge.
I have found oriental poppies are wonderful, and very few grass will grow with them. They like part sun and part shade. I also have some Giant Bearded Iris and it is very low maintenence with no grass or weeds growing with them either. But for both of these plants I mulch and put bark over them during the winter and fresh mulch in the spring. It helps to keep out bugs too. We tend to get grasshappers! Finally, Columbine is one of my favorites. It grows anywhere, between rocks, crevises and flowers will last all season when watered. Columbine likes part shade and part sun.

By: Sara

Sara — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:25:04 +0000

We’re having great luck with gaura. We thought most of our gaura was dead (planted late last summer), but now we’ve got growth on all of them, from the rhizomes. This is with no water and a terrible winter. Of course, this also makes them risky if you don’t want them to spread…

By: eternalvoyageur

eternalvoyageur — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:30:22 +0000

For me, low-maintenance free gardening is a whole approach to gardening, not just choosing plants that you think don’t need much care. You must choose the plants carefully according to your doil type, wetness, temperature zone, etc. And remember that each garden has different microclimates in different areas.
I recommend reading about PERMACULTURE. They have many techniques of planting stuff in a way that it takes care of itself. For eg. planting nitrogen fixers that will fertilise other plants, planting ground-cover crops that protect the ground from drying out, weeds, and even more; and also COMPANION PLANTING: planting certain types of planrs together: like garlic near roses to protect them from aphids.

By: Ketzl Brame

Ketzl Brame — Wed, 14 May 2008 03:24:19 +0000

There are a few fruit trees/bushes and perennial vegetables that almost anyone can grow, require no pesticides or fertilizers and are beautifully ornamental. If you’re going to the trouble of gardening why not be rewarded for your efforts with tasty, healthy fruits and vegetables? In zone 7/8 I’ve had great success with blueberry bushes, fig trees, pineapple guava and asparagus. Easy as blueberry pie!

By: Dee

Dee — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:43:50 +0000

False sunflowers are my pick for another care free and low maintenance plant that blooms all summer

By: Monique

Monique — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:10:08 +0000

In addition to the great advice to talk to and shop at your local nursery I would recommend that you also obtain a list of what plants to avoid from either the nursery or your local agricultural extension office. Many “lovely” plants that work in one part of the country become invasive and threaten native species when planted in other parts of the country. Where we live you can be fined for not controlling or for planting certain plants. These plants are even illegal to sell here but through “plant-sharing” are still being planted and continue to threaten native species and wildlife habitats.

By: ashley

ashley — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:38:54 +0000

If you live in Texas, Rosemary and Lantana are excellent choices.

By: RA

RA — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:57:04 +0000

We live in NJ and have had success with these plants:for a sunny spot Blanket flower (Gaillardia aristata) can be a good choice. I like Lavender, Liatris and Coreopsis ( careful with it’s spreading habit).

Enjoyed reading this timely post and all the comments.

By: Merry

Merry — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:07:36 +0000

I just wanted to say ‘Thanks!’ to Kris in PNW. I just bought a house in Portland and have /no/ idea what to do with the (mostly shady) backyard. I appreciate these suggestions!

By: Sasha

Sasha — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:00:47 +0000

Oh yes don’t snapdragons reseed themselves as well?

Sometimes you can just scatter the seeds in loose-ish soil, mix the surface of the soil a bit, and then forget about them–most plants are already evolved to know how to take care of the rest.

By: Sasha

Sasha — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:59:34 +0000

My perennial herbs are low maintenance. Also I find tulips pretty easy. Pansies and violets grow and reseed themselves. So do poppies. Irish moss just grows and grows. Hardy cyclamen grows over and over.

I’m a container gardener limited to my porch, which can get complicated, as can indoor plants. A good cure for black thumbs (doesn’t that almost always mean we over or under water all the time?) are self watering containers. I came across some great ones today: http://www.gardeners.com/Self-.....lt,sc.html and http://www.gardeners.com/Self-.....lt,sc.html

There are also doo-dads which can “self water” the plants and can be added to planters you already have.

And you can make your own self watering container. Here’s a groovy page on this, http://www.homegrownevolution......iners.html and if you google the subject you can find even more.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:13:06 +0000

Daylilies are great, no maintenance. Kangaroo Paws – genus Anigozanthos – thrive on neglect. But watch out for wandering jew–it will grow anywhere, anytime, sprouting from shreds of leaves or stems and is impossible to eradicate.

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:36:42 +0000

Just thought of another great one – Baptisia Australis, or False Indigo. Just plant it in a sunny spot, and ignore it! They don’t like to be divided, so you don’t even have to do that. And they thrive in poor soil.

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:34:10 +0000

Lori mentioned that Rose of Sharon are pretty spready, and indeed they are, unless you get a sterile variety. There are a few of them…one is a variety called ‘Diana’, but I can’t remember the others, offhand. I just love mine.

I second the daylily suggestion. Over the past couple of years we’ve been seriously downsizing our gardens and only keeping the lowest-maintenance plants. Several daylilies are among the few that made the cut. Also, I love my ornamental grasses (non-invasive ones.) And lilacs, especially the smaller varieties like ‘Miss Kim’.

By: kim

kim — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:50:04 +0000

I second the daylily recommendation. They thrive on neglect.

By: Kris

Kris — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:19:32 +0000

I’m in the Pacific Northwest, and my go-to low-maintenance plants are lavender, rosemary, some hebes, specie tulips (if you don’t mind the foliage which lasts longer than the flowers do), lilacs, chives and some other herbs, silverbush, hydrangeas (though I haven’t had good luck with them in this garden), California lilac, hostas as mentioned above, various grasses (I just got a fabulous New Zealand flax that is going to be utterly stunning), hollyhocks, heather, and of course rhododendrons and azaleas.

Be careful with butterfly bush! It’s an invasive weed in the Pacific Northwest and is on the “Noxious Weed” list for Washington.

By: jon

jon — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:15:06 +0000

I agree with day lilies, try for a variety because, as the name implies, each flower only lasts one day. But different varieties come into flower at different weeks, so you get a good range across the summer.

I also agree with Vinca. Look for Vinca Minor if your garden is small, Vinca major if big and Vinca variagated for a change.

Hostas are okay, but they are very susceptable to slugs and snail damage. if you already have lots of the buggers, then your Hostas won’t make it above ground in year 2.

Be careful with herbs, they will spread and some sucker, meaning they pop up all over. Be careful with annual seedlings, especially things like poppies and cornflower, extremely invasive. But I do recommend wallflowers, calendula, nasturtium (which is edible) and er siberian wallflower, can’t think of its true name.

But do go for perennial poppies, again great bloomers, they die down in winter, very easy to care for.

I suggest lambs tongue (your local name may vary), lovely soft silvery leaves, nice flower spikes, indestrucatble and will root anyway. Once it’s got going, just dig a bit up, shove it in some where else, splash with water and it takes!

Try honeysuckle, especially if you can get 2 or 3 different ones, Fantastic climbers, wonderful scent, great for insects. Clematis are great climbers too, but they can be fussy in their first years and need lots of water to thrive.

Fotinia Fraserii Red Robin is a wonderful shrub, needs no work and sprouts dark red leaves every year, which then turn to green.