Low maintenance landscaping ideas

As a Wellington landscape designer, the request I hear most often from my clients is for low maintenance landscaping. Low maintenance means something different to everyone. Some people are happy to mow a lawn, but not weed a garden. Others literally want to commit none of their valuable family time to yard work.

There have been a few occasions when my team has been called in to demolish well established traditional, formal or cottage style gardens in favour of low maintenance, contemporary or modern landscaping. As difficult as it is to make the decision to remove perfectly good fixtures, the realistic eventuality is that without significant investment, those high maintenance gardens are going to deteriorate leaving the homeowner with a hot mess of stress inducing yard work.

For anyone wanting to reduce the physical and mental load of their outdoor spaces, these are my top six suggestions.

1. Location, location, location

If you can, position your outdoor living space immediately adjacent to the house. Even with the best intentions, the slog of having to traipse too far with arms full of food, drinks and plates loses its appeal rapidly. The closer your outdoor living space is to your house, the more likely you will be to keep it clean and use it regularly.

2. Easy does it

When shopping for outdoor furniture, consider the extra work that removable cushions and accessories will create. Unfortunately it’s not always easy to find outdoor furniture without cushions that is also comfortable, but in Wellington you risk losing your cushions to the wind or watching them slowly disintegrate with mould and mildew if you don’t stow them away during weather events and rainy seasons. The novelty of transporting the cushions back and forth throughout the week wears off quickly.

Many of our clients are opting to have custom bench seating built into their outdoor living spaces, clad in hardwood to match their deck. This can be a genius space saver and the bespoke nature of these elements greatly elevates the richness of the space.

3. Green with envy

Lawns can be a bone of contention for many families! There’s something so fulfilling about the soft, lush, organic beauty of a successful lawn. Sadly, most homeowners find this ambitious standard to be an unachievable pipe dream. This can be due to any number of factors including soil quality, shade, sun exposure, climate, topography, bugs and plant disease, drainage problems, pets, kids, neighbouring structures, lack of time or resources to commit to maintenance.

Until recently, there were no perfect alternatives for those wanting to keep a green space. Recently, artificial turf manufacturers have developed some very realistic, durable options.

If you can’t bring yourself to lose the lawn, try reducing it or re-sowing with a more suitable variant.

4. Pick your battles

If you want to keep the plants but reduce the time commitment of maintaining them, plant choice is pivotal. What’s suitable for your home will depend entirely on your location and environmental factors.

Seek advice from a qualified horticulturalist. Good landscaping companies will have a horticulturalist in the team.

A well choreographed arrangement of hardy, low maintenance, native plants will achieve the right balance of coverage, height, colour and texture to ensure your gardens look fabulous and last for generations with minimal maintenance.

If you’re keen on growing your own herbs and edibles, a raised garden bed is a must for ease of access and maintenance.

5. Cut the clutter

Sometimes simply reducing or hiding the yard clutter makes more of an impact than any other form of landscaping. Consider a shed or storage space under a deck. Having a dedicated space to put things away makes it so much easier for the entire family to get involved in keeping the yard tidy.

6. Undercover agents

Ground covers are a brilliant way to keep the weeds at bay. A ground cover can take on many different forms, including living (low, spreading plants), mulch (organic mixes of formerly living material such as chopped leaves, straw, compost, wood chips, shredded bark, sawdust and even paper), river pebbles or stones.

Concrete, asphalt, pavers and decking can also be used to cover the ground with a hard, usable surface.

There are so many strategies for spending less time maintaining and more time enjoying your garden. It’s a subject I’m always happy to talk about with interested homeowners.