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Ideal low-maintenance plants
There are three groups of low-maintenance plants:
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Shrubs
There are many varieties of slow-growing shrubs and evergreens that add size, stature and a colourful range of seasonal flowers and foliage to the garden.
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Conifers
Conifers provide year-round shape, texture and colour - some change and take on different shades in winter. Although there are 1,500 varieties, they fall roughly into three groups.
- Fast-growing kinds like leylandii are rather reviled, but in the right place they make a good hedge if you keep it cut twice a year and don’t let it run wild.
- Slow-growing vertical types like Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’ make tight, pointy shapes that help to ‘lift’ the garden.
- Dwarf types, such as some of the junipers, can be small and dumpy or grow out flat and make good ground cover.
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 Grasses
Grasses go well with shrubs and conifers and, depending which ones you choose, add colour, seed-heads and movement to a garden. They are the ultimate low-maintenance perennials. You can forget staking, tying up, or deadheading. They only need cutting down once a year.
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Bulbs are the magic ingredients that bring the ‘no work’ garden to life. You only need to plant them once - three times their own depth is the rule - and they come up year after year. Go for spring, summer and autumn types that don’t have a lot of floppy foliage that looks messy once the flowers have finished.
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