Low-Maintenance Garden Plans

Determine the attributes and conditions of your growing site. Note the length of time it receives direct sun, partial sun or shade. Check the structure of the soil to determine if it's sandy, loamy or clay. Observe the area after a heavy rainstorm and see how quickly water drains away after the rain stops.

Choose plants whose growing requirements, likes and dislikes closely match the conditions in your growing site. Page through seed catalogs to find low-maintenance plants. The catalog descriptions contain cultural information and the plant's preferences for optimal growth. Your local county extension agent also will have recommendations for low-maintenance trees, plants and shrubs that grow best in your area.

Provide some type of watering system if your low-maintenance garden is a vegetable garden. Although it is possible to grow a low-maintenance vegetable garden, the cultural requirements of vegetables are such that the plants most likely will require some type of irrigation. It can be as elaborate as a professionally installed, zoned irrigation system or as simple as a soaker hose laid on the surface of the bed before you install plants or mulch. What makes it low-maintenance is you merely have to turn on the water, rather than drag out the hose, position it, set the flow of the water just right then remember to turn if off at the appointed time.

Install the plant materials at their closest recommended spacing. Because the plants are growing so close together, the plants' leaves will form a living mulch over the soil, discouraging weeds from growing and keeping the soil cool and evenly moist. Avoid including varieties of plants that specify they need good air circulation. This means the plants in question are susceptible to fungal diseases, which take hold more readily in crowded, stagnant garden beds. Varieties that require wide spacing to prevent fungal diseases are not considered low-maintenance, as they most likely will require repeated spraying with fungicide.

Put down a permanent mulch, such as decorative rock, or a semipermanent one like large cedar wood chips. The mulch will dress up the garden bed, cover up the irrigation system, especially if it consists of a soaker hose, and practically eliminate the need for weeding.