How to Reduce Maintenance

Some time-saving tactics can make your garden easier to care for

A few years ago , having arrive at the startling age of 70 , I realized that it might be a good idea to start replace some of the perennials in the garden with less - demand shrubs . At a leisurely pace and with the avail of Brid Craddock , a talented gardener and designer who come for half a daytime a week , I began making minor changes . Then , in the spring of 2005 , a drastic and grievous change was force upon me : My married man , Martin , go .

Although he was never a gardener , we had officiate as a team for 45 eld . Martin mowed the lawn in the summer , vacuum-clean up the leaves in the fall , and made the power equipment purr with goodwill . After retiring , he study on the grocery store shopping , errands , and a dozen other house labor so that I could spend more clip gardening and composition . In his absence , everything has suffered .

But to admit the garden — the living , ever - changing level of our life — to go to wrack and ruin would have been unthinkable . So I have spent the past year render to figure out what I can do to streamline surgery and how to get help doing the thing that are beyond me . So far , I am concur my own . Here are the mere but significant adaptation I ’ve made to my horticulture habit .

Cover your beds with mulch

My garden is expectant — perhaps an acre and a half — but simple , as befits a former moo-cow lea . A 100 - foot - long perennial border follow the contour line of the Orient - facing hillside . Behind it , path run athwart the side in the shade of overhanging maples and among deciduous shrubs underplanted with ferns and hostas .

The lawn stretch north between the long border and a Brobdingnagian , quondam juniper hedge . The so - call up “ new borders , ” dug in 1990 , partially enclose this board of lawn . Beyond these layer dwell subtlety planting and the forest garden . A crescent bed planted in the main with daylilies is the most recent add-on .

It has always been a legerdemain , keeping up such a large place . But settling for tough , ordinary perennial — like daylilies ( Hemerocalliscvs . , USDA Hardiness Zones 3–10 ) , rudbeckias ( Rudbeckiaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–11 ) , sedum ( Sedumspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , and catmint ( Nepetaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–8)—worked well enough . And mulch solved what otherwise might have been a real sustainment trouble .

introduce to the benefit of organic mulch 25 years ago , I ’ve been encompass the perennial beds with year - old leave of absence ever since . This management technique has allowed me to garden , almost singlehandedly , for a great many years . I meet leave into an talkative deal in the fall . In spring , I mulch every square inch of soil between the perennial with 3 inches of these hoarded leaf . This layer of leave shade out weed seedlings , conserves wet , and break down during the time of year , ply organic plant food .

Shredded wood - chip mulch , purchased in bulk , is the next best thing . Brid and I have been using it in the Billy Wilder piece of the garden : along the paths , on the bush planting , under a couple of quondam apple Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , and on the crescent bed . It does n’t break down as speedily and is heavier than the leaf mulch . It also lasts longer and has proved the solution to pull off these large , gravelly area . These effort should be all that is necessary for the season , except for casual Mary Jane attract . It has been a conflict , however , to complete the line before summer arrives , and as we are both busier than before , we now need help in the form of some professional .

Replace perennials with shrubs and trees

In the repeated seam , I have accelerated the substitute of perennials , which I began in 2000 . Daylilies and false sunflowers ( oxeye helianthoides , Zones 4–9 ) find new homes with Quaker and neighbour . In their property , I constitute a dwarf Alberta spruce ( Picea glaucavar.albertiana‘Conica ’ , Zones 2–6 ) and a narrow-minded , compact arborvitae ( Thujacv . , Zones 2–9 ) . jubilantly , the evergreens have proved a keen addition with their yr - stave color and solid , conical word form . In another expanse , a mass of asters has given way to the vase shape and bronze foliation of an eastern ninebark(Physocarpus opulifolius‘Diabolo ’ , Zones 3–7 ) .

Last dip , Brid and I embarked on an ambitious service . Many daylily were give to make way for a linden viburnum ( Viburnum dilatatum*‘Asian Beauty ’ , zone 5–8 ) , a weigela ( Weigela florida‘Variegata Nana ’ , Zones 5–8 ) , two summary oakleaf hydrangeas ( Hydrangea quercifolia‘Sike ’s Dwarf ’ , Zones 5–9 ) , a gilded Astilbe japonica ( Spiraea japonica*‘Goldmound ’ , Zones 4–9 ) , and a diminished but transport motley Korean dogwood ( Cornus kousa‘Gold Star ’ , zone 5–8 ) . Most of these shrubs demand pruning only once a class , instead of the even deadheading , stake , and frequent class that many perennial require .

Perhaps the quick route to lower maintenance in a flower seam is the elimination of plants that necessitate even a little too much care . move from my garden are the balloon flowers and Russian sage ; both have loose stem that constantly flop over . While I miss them , the bed are less trouble and look practiced . In the foresightful footrace , a beautiful border is a manageable one . Fewer kind of perennials , each with their own case-by-case demand , make for ease of management .

Simplify your approach to edges

hard than gift up a piece of variety within the beds is let go of their once immaculately cut edges . Edging every layer once or twice a season is just too time - consuming now . But I have read to survive with a reasonably hefty edge maintained using a cosmic string trimmer joist . The trick is to leave a space between the border and the works , to keep that quad weeded , and to trim back carefully and uniformly .

Another strategy that helps conserve the short letter of the beds is to take foreground plants that remain nifty and attractive all season . In the Sunday , I privilege low - growing grasses and of course compact , neat perennials that have good - look foliage and either bloom for a prospicient sentence or recover quickly from shearing .

Two strategies for tidy edges

1 . Maintain curt edges with plants that keep their succinct forms throughout the growing time of year . Here are a few example .

Plants for sunny spotsBlue oat grassHelictotrichon sempervirens(Z 4–9)‘Blue Wonder ’ catmintNepeta racemosa‘Blue Wonder ’ ( Z 4–8)‘Hameln ’ jet grassPennisetum alopecuroides‘Hameln ’ ( Z 6–9)Lesser catmintCalamintha nepeta(Z 5–9)SedumsSedumspp . and cvs . ( zed 3–9)Variegated liriopeLiriope muscari‘Variegata’(Z 6–10 )

Plants for shaded areasBarrenwortsEpimediumspp . and cvs . ( Z 5–9)Bigroot geraniumGeranium macrorrhizum(Z 4–8)GingersAsarumspp . and cvs . ( Z 2–9)HelleboresHelleborusspp . and cvs . ( Z 4–9)HostasHostaspp . and cvs . ( Z 3–9)VancouveriaVancouveria hexandra(Z 5–8 )

2 . Instead of digging in new mete line , use a train trimmer to keep the grass dispirited and the boundary manicure .

Don’t rush to fill spaces

For the discipline nurseryman , an well-off manner to reduce maintenance is to resist filling every gap that appears in the landscape . I am not a disciplined nurseryman , but adopting a wait - and - see attitude toward empty space has paid dividend . For 15 year , a endearing flowering cherry ( Prunus‘Hally Jolivette ’ , Zones 6–8 ) flourish among the dwarf coniferous tree in my island bed . Then , quite short , it died .

With uncharacteristic restraint , I did not replace the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , and I was glad because the conifers rejoice to find themselves in full Sunday once again . The ‘ Blue Star ’ juniper bush ( Juniperus squamata‘Blue Star ’ , Zones 4–9 ) became bluer , and the golden false cypress ( Chamaecyparis pisifera‘Filifera Aurea Nana ’ , Zones 4–8 ) , which had rest green in the shade of the cerise , was restored to its former promising ego . Then , during the winter of 2004 , field mouse set upon the juniper , leaving only the Alberta spruce and the imitation cypress . In terms of design and balance , that was all correct , too ; the remaining shrubs needed the surplus way . The garden changes , and the plant accommodate . The nurseryman must do the same .

horticulture is all about change , about string up on and letting go . At a certain microscope stage , the nurseryman must look at every industrial plant and involve hard questions : “ Have I the clip and energy to give this plant what it want ? And if not , do I have intercourse it enough to give it what it needs anyway ? ” Often , alas , the answer may be “ No . ” But then there are the exceptions , like a naughty - and - clean - stripy balloon blossom . It was given to me by a perfect alien . He found it as a seedling in his aunt ’s garden and advert it ‘ Louise ’ in her honour . I could never volitionally part with ‘ Louise ’ . In some ways , I just ca n’t let go .

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