We have all seen and wished for the beautifully designed gardens we see on TV shows, advertisements and in brochures. Unfortunately the fact remains that unless you are a full time gardener, creating and maintaining these gardens would be a huge task. Add this to the fact that our lives are becoming busier by the year and the possibility of achieving this is quite distant. Or is it?
Most of the professionally designed gardens we see are created using expensive plants, custom, carefully shaped lawns and brickwork. Although this looks beautiful it would make simple tasks such as mowing the lawn a head ache. However, it is possible to create a beautiful looking lawn but still keep it low maintenance. Imagine that, a garden that looks fantastic and you would be able to spend your time relaxing instead on maintaining it. Follow these 5 steps and you can easily recreate your garden into a low maintenance masterpiece.
Reduce the lawn. Keep it simple
The first and main step to relieve the amount of time spent on the garden is the lawn. A lot of old gardens tend to be a huge lawn from top to bottom. With lawn growing very fast in the summer months you will find that making a smaller lawn will allow you to fly over it quicker with your mower and at the same time free up space for other features. But remember, keep it simple. A lot of people tend to create small off shoots as pathways using their lawn when reducing it but this again creates more work. Try to create one large shape when reducing it. If you want something a little different go for an oval shape or a bean shape instead of the standard rectangle. You may be thinking though, what other features are you able to put in? Keep reading to find out.
Create or enlarge your patio
Patios are fantastic in the garden, they look beautiful, and they can be arranged into several shapes and comes in different colours and textures. The best thing is, once they are laid down, nothing else needs to be done. Other than a yearly clean to keep the dirt from sticking, this will serve as a platform for your garden furniture that is maintenance free.
Add a Decking Area
A decking area not only adds a separated, raised area to your garden for you to relax. It also helps separate your garden into sections which give it more character and helps smaller gardens look bigger. There are several options with decking also. You can add balustrade to create a sectioned off area, you can add an artificial turf cover to help it blend in with the lawn. Once the decking is complete you can then add hanging baskets, plant pots, whatever you like to spice it up.
Easy to maintain plants
When looking at recreating the garden borders you have for low maintenance, look at using shrubs, roses and grasses. Once these are grown, they need very little after care to keep them looking good.
Add Decorative Aggregate
So by now, you should have started planning your finished low maintenance garden in your head. You can see the lovely shaped lawn that will allow you to add a nice patio or even a patio feature in the corner of your garden. You can see the decking area that will run from your patio doors and into the garden. The final step is to polish off the garden and apply the final touches. Any garden borders that you are not using, any borders around your features, lawn, decking area, all need covering up to stop them becoming a weed magnet. Every remaining piece of ground you have left, apply weed membrane and put your choice of decorative aggregate on top. This will keep you garden looking beautiful and make it very difficult for weeds to come through.
Use Decorative Aggregates if on a tight budget.
Some of the methods above like putting down a patio or decking area can be quite expensive especially if you have a large garden. If you are on a smaller budget, then you can always go for beautiful decorative aggregates with weed membrane underneath instead. This will create an amazing, colourful effect that will be completely maintenance free. Have a look at our Gravel and Chippings area of the website to see the different colours and types of decorative aggregates available.
By Adam Mason
