What is your best advice for low-maintenance gardening?

www.squarefootgarden.comWhat is your best advice for low-maintenance gardening?
Find plants that will produce in pots or planters. This eliminates most weeding and individual watering problems. It also gives you the means to move plant to optimum areas of light.What is your best advice for low-maintenance gardening?
for flowerbeds, take just one day - one full day - and plant, plant, plant. Before you do, lay a soaker hose an inch or so below the soil - snake it around your beds. Then plant your flowers, perinnals or whatever. Then sprinkle some slow release fertilizer (osmocote). Then after planting, mulch at least two inches (cypress or pine bark works best for me). Then all you got to do when you get home in the afternoon, is crack open a beer, light a smoke and turn on the soaker hose. It's the best.
Put down black plastic after tilling your garden. Then when you are ready to plant just cut a hole in the plastic and plant your plants/seeds. This will save you tons on weeding. Good Luck!
Flower pots! No weeds to mess with, easy to water, and can be placed anywhere. Good luck! http://www.newprocontainers.com or http://www.qualitysilks.com
Hello,


';Low-maintenance gardens can be high on impact, and they can be just as stylish as gardens that demand regular attention, ';according to Peter McHoy in his 256-page book, Planning Your Garden ( http://www.paradoxpro.com/gardenbook.html ).











Low-maintenance gardens allow you to leave for a week or more, and the plants can fend for themselves. The most important aspect of a low maintenance garden, besides your choice of plants, is the floor for your garden. ';It's important to get this aspect of the garden right, as, initially, it will be the most time-consuming and costly part of planning your garden,'; McHoy says. ';Large areas of the same kind of hard landscaping material will look boring. Be prepared to mix different kinds of paving materials. In Planning Your Garden, McHoy shows how to use various materials to create symmetry in your garden design.';











Here are some inspirational ideas for easy gardening:





鈥?Paving: a huge variety of pavers are available, but you will need lots of plants in combination with them to soften the effect. You can pave a walkway through your garden, or create a patio, with plants throughout.











鈥?Gravel and stone: These are best with drough-resistant plants such as lavenders. A few plants go a long way in this type of garden, and maintenance is limited to trimming back any plants that begin to outgrow their space,'; says Peter McHoy. Lay the gravel thick to keep weeds away.











鈥?Raised beds: These can be used in conjunction with various ground coverings, and can be made of wood, brick, or a number of other materials. Raised beds usually hold a greater depth of soil than do pots or tubs, so plants are less likely to dry out, and it should not be necessary to water a raised bed daily during hot weather, according to the book, Planning Your Garden.











鈥?Use drought-resistent plants: check with your local nursery for the plants that grow best in your climate, and choose the ones that work the best with your garden style.











鈥?Ground-cover plants. ';Ground-cover plants are also important 'carpets' for suitable beds and borders,'; says McHoy. Use plants that do well in your area. Some choices include moss, chamomile, thyme, and even clover.











鈥?Other options include planting through gravel, through gaps in a patio, and against walls.











The number of plants you use, and the size of your low-maintenance garden is up to you. The more plants you use, the more tending they will require. But your initial planning will make a huge difference in the time you need to spend, as well as your enjoyment later in your perfectly designed garden.





Here are a couple of websites that are excellent on gardeing





Secilysgardentips.com


homeandgardenmakeover.com





Best Wishes,


Secily W.
hi let me try again. found that good dirt is really a plussss .so just use Hardy plants n miracle grow liquid it attached to hose , also get plants that u can cut n stick i love especially when people admire your green thumb good luck id love to see a picture when done bye.
Pick plants that will not need a lot of maintenance. Plant a variety of plants as that will help eliminate insect issues. Wind a drip line between the plants and then put a heavy layer of mulch between all the plants. Oh and you can replace grass with other ground cover that doesn't need to be mowed. If you do this you should have a good looking garden that only requires a few days of clean up in the spring and fall.
Japanese, low maintenance


evergreens like juniper, rock gardens, zen gardens
Use mulch. It is the single greatest timesaver for the gardener.





Why?





* Reduces the need to weed - any new weeds are easy to pull out


* Reduces the need to water


* Suppresses existing weeds


* It looks nice!