Ideas for Low Maintenance Garden

westiea

Zen Garden?!

lostinrates

cootambear wrote: »

All paving now has to have regular holes in it.

That's good. I didn't know that. we're putting in a terrace in the future and that knowledge might well help! Thank you.

alanobrien

Gravel - its easy obtain and lay, low maintenance, cost effective and drains well.

SailorSam

Let someone else do your garden and share the produce
BBC News - Garden sharing scheme benefiting owners and helpers

ukmaggie45

alanobrien wrote: »

Gravel - its easy obtain and lay, low maintenance, cost effective and drains well.

And your local cats will love to use it as a toilet.

alanobrien

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

And your local cats will love to use it as a toilet.

Never had that problem in the last 10 years.

Errata

alanobrien wrote: »

Gravel - its easy obtain and lay, low maintenance, cost effective and drains well.

I had to get rid of my 30' x 30' lawn two years ago and replaced it with heavy duty weed suppressant stuff covered in 5/8ths pea shingle, a couple of small circular flower beds and lots of pots. Not as lush as the Zen garden in the picture, but I'm working on it.
No problems with cats.

angelavdavis

I would recommend the heavy duty weed suppressant fabric, larger weight shingle (to put off the cats), cut X shapes out of the fabric and plant slow growing evergreen shrubs in the holes, folding the flaps of the fabric back against the shrub and spread the shingle over the top.

The evergreen shrubs will provide interest but you won't have to clear leaves up and the shingle should keep the weeds at bay. Just rake or hoe on a regular basis should any weed appear.

You can always place a path of slabs winding their way through the garden so you can access this area of the garden all year round.

I always plant my beds this way (but use bark chips which need replenishment every 3 years or so). I removed my lawn as I love gardening but hate mowing.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Depends if you are the owner and envisage moving in the future, as concreting a perfectly good garden which can add thousands to the value of a flat is financially inadvisable.

If you want to stay, I would suggest the membrane, gravel and sweeping strips of larger cobbles like a ribbon through the garden, adding pots of bamboo, maybe a dark pool with a few water plants in it and an Acer tree. No real work involved after they're stuck down and you aren't left with what looks like a parking lot out the back of a cheap pub by the bins.