This article is for the time-stretched or the lazy gardener.
It is aimed at those who desire a beautiful garden, but don’t have either the time or the inclination to labour outdoors for hours, manicuring a resplendent masterpiece.
It’s easy to feel that you’re battling against nature in your garden: the weeds want to smother your flowers and veggies, the caterpillars want to munch holes in your cabbage, and the grass just wants to grow and grow and grow.
And we all know, in the words of Jean Jacques Rousseau: “ Plant and your spouse plants with you; weed and you weed alone.”
Your Garden should Enhance Your Well-Being, not Harm it
So I’d like to save you from any feelings of gardener-guilt when you look at your garden: you are the conductor of an orchestra of plants, trees, insects and flowers out there.
However, not all of them will know or like the music you’ve chosen.
Many of them will show no interest whatsoever in learning the harmony parts, believe me.
To enjoy our garden, our mindset needs to be less that of the conqueror of nature and more of being happy to meet nature halfway.

As Casey Joy Lister writes in her blog:
“The only thing that matters is how much you are enjoying being in your garden. How the time you spend out there enhances your life, gives you cause to move your body, connects you to the natural world and draws you into moments of quiet contemplation, bursts of creative energy and moments of mindfulness.
Our gardens are for relieving our stress, not adding to it.
As long as your garden is bringing you joy, you are doing it right.”
https://www.caseyjoylister.com/blog/lazy-gardening
She goes on to write:
“Ultimately gardening and plants should help with stress, not cause it. We need to grow gardens that are resilient enough to allow us to drop the ball every now and then. And we need a style of gardening that fits with real life – not with the aspirational photos that give us garden envy on instagram.
We need to embrace the virtues of lazy gardening.”
https://www.caseyjoylister.com/blog/lazy-gardening
Plants For the Lazy Gardener
I hope that I have gone some way to relieve any gardener guilt or anxiety that you may have been feeling about the current situation in your garden.
It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed by your own and others’ expectations to create a beautiful garden when the reality is that you have neither the time nor energy to spend.
However, that doesn’t mean that you have to give up on the idea of having an attractive garden- far from it!
This article is all about how to make a beautiful garden by choosing low-maintenance plants.
These require minimal care and attention and can thrive in a variety of growing conditions.
These plants are perfect for busy gardeners who want to spend more time enjoying their outdoor space and less time working on it.
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in then read on!
Of course, ‘low maintenance’ isn’t the same as ‘no maintenance’, but the plants I’m going to talk about will bring colour and joy into your garden without needing lots of labour.
As Casey Joy Lister says:
“Our gardens will always need work. There will always be a natural ebb and flow between beauty and mess because our plants will never stop growing. But this is part of the wonderful thing about gardens; they’re never finished.”
How Can a Garden Be Beautiful, Yet Low Maintenance?
The best way to create a beautiful, yet low-maintenance garden is to work with what nature has already given you rather than work against it.
A general rule is that you will experience less stress and more success if you grow plants that are native to your area.
Trying to grow tropical plants when you live on the windswept coast in the Shetland Isles could prove frustrating, to say the least.
So bear this in mind when you’re choosing plants and check that they’re likely to thrive in your particular area.
Check Out Your Soil Conditions
Although some hardy plants will grow cheerfully just about anywhere, most are best suited to certain soil conditions.
Therefore the best low-maintenance plants are those suited to your particular soil type.
To avoid stress in the soil type department, test your soil before choosing your plants and choose the ones that thrive in your soil.
Plants that aren’t suitable for your soil type are going to require the application of certain fertilizers and extra care, so they’re not compatible with the low-maintenance, low-stress approach.
Check Out Your Light Conditions
Think about the light conditions in your garden: is it in full sun for most of the day?
Are there areas of deep or partial shade?
Lazy gardening is strategic gardening: choose plants that suit the light conditions of your garden and put them in the right positions.
Simples! Plants that thrive in shady areas will shrivel unhappily in full sunshine, and vice versa.
Consider The Watering Needs of Your Climate
The low-maintenance garden doesn’t oblige you to pop out with the watering can every evening- oh no!
If you don’t want to spend hours watering your garden, choose drought-tolerant plants.
Did you know that certain types of vegetables are bred specially for arid climates?
So choose those if you tend to experience very dry conditions. You could also set up an automatic watering system.
Drought-Tolerant Succulents for Lazy Gardeners
Drought-tolerant plants are a great choice for low-maintenance gardens because they require minimal watering and can generally thrive in poor soil conditions.
Many succulents have thick leaves and specialized stems that allow them to store water.
That means you won’t have to be out there watering them too frequently.
Better still, succulents thrive on infrequent watering and fertilizing, so they’re a winning choice for the lazy gardener!
Hardy Succulents will even survive harsh UK winters out in the garden.
Below is a selection of winter hardy succulents.
These will bring color and interest into your garden through the dark months of winter, without you even having to step outdoors.
Sedeveria Letizia ( Sedum Cuspidatum x Echeveria Setosa Ciliata)
This is a pretty plant is a vibrant apple green in colour. It grows in a rosette shape with branching stems.
The leaves of this plant are edged in brilliant red.
In the springtime, you’ll see white, star-shaped flowers which are attractive to bees and other pollinators.
This plant will survive temperatures as low as minus 6 degrees.
Sedum Stahlii
This evergreen succulent has beautiful deep colours: a dark red grading to green.
This plant is very easy both to grow and to propagate, as the leaves drop off almost as soon as you touch them and will then quickly form new roots.
The leaves are thick and egg-shaped.
In late spring and early summer, you’ll see bright yellow, star-shaped flowers appear, which are very pretty and delicate.
Sedum Spurium Schorbuser Blut
The lazy gardener simply can’t go wrong with this succulent!
It’s amazingly hardy- in fact, it even seems to thrive in cold weather.
This colourful plant looks great when grown up dry stone walls or between flagstones along a path, where it will help to prevent weeds from growing.
It is therefore definitely on your friends list!
No gardening skill is required to propagate this succulent either, as all you need to do is break pieces off before they begin to flower and place them in the ground.
The lazy gardener’s dream!
The sedum will grow into a low mat, giving attractive ground cover wherever you need it.
The leaves will change colour throughout the seasons and small clusters of star-shaped flowers bloom in the summer.
This plant will thrive in hot, sunny sites and will also survive very cold winters, down to minus 20 degrees.

Sedum Commixtum Comic Tom
This is one of my favourite succulents- simply because its colours are remarkable: in the winter the leaves are a chilly green/ blue colour and then in the summer they have bright pink/red leaf tips.
It’s such a beautiful plant to grow in your garden, with no effort at all!
It’s hardy enough to withstand temperatures down to minus 15 degrees C in the winter.
If You’re Time-Challenged- Grow Shrubs
Shrubs are a great choice for low-maintenance gardens because they are generally easy to grow and require little maintenance. For a guide to beautiful flowering shrubs, see my article:
Beautiful evergreen flowering shrubs
Why not buy yourself a Buddleia- or Butterfly Bush?
It will grow quickly and produce lots of flowers and attract lots of butterflies!

Shrubs are wonderfully flexible plants.
You can use them for screening and shade, and many varieties will attract wildlife to your garden by providing nesting sites, berries and flowers for pollinators.
Evergreen shrubs such as boxwood, yew and holly can withstand exposure and seldom need pruning and care.
Cut them back once a year to get rid of straggling or dead branches and mulch around their growing sites- that’s it.
How About the Lazy Gardener’s List of Low Maintenance Flowers?
I have a list of low-maintenance flowers for you here; most of them are perennials and should come back year after year, although you have to expect some casualties.
There will also be the inevitable losses to pests, but these can be minimised by employing the environmentally friendly methods I discuss in this post:
Environmentally friendly pest control products
Are Annuals Friends of the Lazy Gardener?
You may be forgiven for thinking that annuals are not the friend of the time-stretched gardener because they only flower for one year.

Credit for image to monikasmigielska on Pixabay
However, some annuals will give your garden a real blast of colour in return for very little effort, so they repay you for the ten minutes you spend planting them.
My favourite example of these kinds of annuals is the Nasturtium: just press the seeds into the ground, water them, and that’s all the work required.
Before too long, you’ll be rewarded with lots of glowing orange, red and yellow flowers that bloom throughout the summer.
You can gather the seeds at the end of the season and grow them again the following year. Easy-squeezy.
Here’s some useful advice about annuals from Casey Joy Lister:
Let your annuals hang around long enough to dry up and go to seed, then collect the seeds for the following year or just scatter the dried seedpods around your garden and cross your fingers that some will germinate.
A few annuals that grow brilliantly from seed year after year include: basil, borage, calendula, chillies, fennel, tomatoes, lettuce, marigolds, nasturtiums, rocket, pumpkins, sweet peas and poppies.
https://www.caseyjoylister.com/blog/lazy-gardening
Bulbs are definitely on the list of the Lazy Gardener’s Low Maintenance Plants
Bulbs are easy to plant and should return year after year to bring colour to your garden.
Plant spring bulbs such as daffodils, tulips, crocuses and snowdrops to bring you bright splashes of vibrant colours in early spring.
They’ll lift your spirits after the long dark days of winter.

Plant them once, and your work is done!
If you’re happy to do a little work on a late spring afternoon when your bulbs have finished flowering, you can lift out your bulbs and divide them, so that you get twice as many blooms the following year.
Summer Bulbs

Credit for the image to Bshane on Pixabay
Bulbs to bring colour in the summer include:
- Irises
- Freesias
- Lilies
- Anemones
- Crocosmia
- Dahlia
- Gladiolus
- Allium
- Polianthes tuberosa
There’s no denying that some work is involved in planting any of these.
Choose a bright day in spring when all danger of frosts is over and plant them directly into warm, moist soil.
Then reward yourself with a large mug of good coffee and enjoy the sense of achievement and anticipation.
Better still, choose a bright day in spring and get your spouse/ kids to plant your bulbs directly into warm, moist soil.
My List of Favourite Flowers For The Lazy Gardener
Now for that list I promised you of my favourite flowers for the lazy gardener.
As I wrote earlier in this article, not all plants are going to suit your particular climate and soil type, but here are some suggestions for you to choose from:
- Hardy geraniums: loads of different colours and drought-resistant once established
- Mexican sunflowers
- Daisies
- Black-eyed Susans
- daylilies
- Coral bells
- Lavender

Who can possibly resist the romantic, heady scent of lavender?
Easy to grow, lavender is perfect for borders, pots and hedges.
Trim down the dead flowers and woody stems and your lavender will return to delight you each year.
- Salvia
- Catmint
- Blanket flower
- Coreopsis
- Purple coneflower
- Spider flower
- Russian sage
- Moss rose
- Yarrow
- Butterfly weed
- Tickseed
- Hens and chicks
- Goldenrod
There’s plenty of choice, and this list is not exhaustive.
These flowers will bring plenty of colour and interest into your garden, and they will grow happily with minimal care from you.
During dry spells, you could simply set the timer on that automatic watering system to look after them for you.
I would suggest that you wander out in the evenings, with a glass of wine or mug of coffee in your hand, and snap off any deadheads to keep your flowers blooming.
Check for pests, too- they need sorting before they get the chance to ruin everything.
Find out more about environmentally friendly pest control.
Ornamental Grasses are the Lazy Gardener’s Friend
Airy ornamental grasses sculpt spectacular visual interest with their artful shapes and colours.
They are hardy and come in a variety of shapes and colours.
Many types are drought-tolerant and resistant to pests and diseases.
You will find many varieties of ornamental grasses which bring four seasons of interest into your garden.
For example, the Little Bluestem, (Schizachyrium scoparium) offers grey-green leaf blades that turn bold shades of purple, red and orange in the autumn when many of your flowers will have died off.
Plant it in a sunny spot in your garden and let it grow.
Festuca Glauca ‘Intense Blue’
Another beautiful, low-maintenance ornamental grass is Blue Oat Grass ( Helictotrichon sempervirens.)
This is an eye-catching steel-blue colour which will grow in tidy mounds in your garden without spreading and taking over your other plants.
This grass thrives in sunshine and well-drained soil.
Maiden Grass ( Miscanthus sinensis)
This is a very easy-to-grow grass which offers narrow, arching foliage and silvery plumes which catch the light beautifully.
This grass has many variegated varieties which will add more colour to your garden. It will add height too, as it grows to eight feet. Plant Maiden Grass in a well-drained sunny spot.
Liriope (Liriope spicata)
If you’re looking for some low-maintenance ground cover plants then this pretty blue grass could be the solution.
Its powder-blue foliage will grow on tidy, dwarf mounds to around a height of one foot.
It needs well-drained soil and will grow in partial shade or full sun. This grass is also known as ‘monkey grass’ or ‘lilyturf.’
It’s a member of the lily family, and will grow happily both in full sunshine or in shade.
This low-maintenance plant will reward you with spikes of lavender, white or purple flowers in late summer and then bluish-black berrylike fruits.
Feather Reed Grass ( Calmagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’) This is a striking, dramatic purple ornamental grass.
Fountain Grass ( Pennisetum) is a beautifully elegant clump-forming ornamental grass that you could consider planting in your low-maintenance garden.
Planting Ornamental Grasses
The best time for planting your ornamental grasses is in the spring so that they can establish a strong root system before the frosts of winter.
If you live in a warmer region, make sure your plants are established in their growing positions at least six to eight weeks before the first frosts.
Are Ornamental Grasses Really Low Maintenance?
Yes, most are perennials and so will come back year after year with little maintenance.
As with the rest of the plants in your garden, ornamental grasses will benefit from an annual application of well-rotted mulch to thrive.
Mulch also helps to keep the weeds down and the soil moist.
What Other Care Do Ornamental Grasses Need?
It’s a good idea to cut back your grasses in late winter or early spring to encourage new growth and get rid of dead foliage.
Cut them back to 3-5 inches off the ground and they’ll grow back beautifully.
Low Maintenance Gardening Tips
Now that we’ve arrived at the end of the article I hope you’ve found plenty of inspiration to create a beautiful garden, even if you are time-stretched.
Although the plants I’ve talked about are all low maintenance, they’re not no maintenance, so there are a few jobs for you still to do to keep everything blooming lovely.
Weeding is Not the Friend of the Lazy Gardener
Just like spots when you’re going to have your photograph taken, weeds will inevitably pop up in any garden.
Think control, rather than eliminate, because attempting to completely eliminate them is not a task for the time-stretched gardener.
There are ways of controlling weeds by strategic planting.
Those ornamental grasses I suggested, and the succulents (sedum) will provide ground cover where otherwise weeds would flourish.
Hard landscaping is also very low maintenance whilst creating paths and zones in your garden at the same time. Also, an annual application of well-rotted mulch will feed your soil and help to keep those pesky weeds down.
You Can Create that Beautiful Garden, Even If You Are Time-Stretched
In conclusion, don’t let your dreams of creating a beautiful garden fade just because you’re super busy, or simply a lazy gardener.
Choose hardy, fuss-free plants and they will provide you with a beautiful place to unwind from the stresses of your busy life and enjoy simply watching the bees buzzing around your lavender.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some commonly asked questions about low-maintenance gardening along with their answers:
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