January 16, 2025
Maintaining an entire garden might feel a little daunting if you’re time-restricted or not quite at head gardener level. And with lives becoming busier and gardens becoming smaller, we understand why you want to get as much from your outdoor space without too much hassle.
In this article, we look at how you can incorporate landscaping materials to enhance your garden but not cause too much work for you. From clover turf to porcelain paving, explore how you can create a stunning low-maintenance garden and which type of garden will be the easiest to maintain.
A low-maintenance garden is an outdoor space that requires minimal gardening tasks such as mowing, fertilising, weeding or over-seeding. There are many ways to reduce these repeated (and sometimes time-consuming) gardening chores while maintaining a beautiful and functional garden. But how do you create a low-maintenance garden? Consider an efficient garden layout, low-maintenance flowers or turf, and eco-friendly and sustainable landscaping materials like Millboard or natural stone to create a gorgeous garden with minimal effort.
While traditional grass lawns can be high-maintenance with frequent watering, mowing, fertilising and over-seeding, Clover Turf offers an excellent, eco-friendly alternative that requires little attention. It’s one of the many reasons it’s becoming a popular turf choice!
Clover turf is naturally drought-resistant, so it requires less watering, even during the hottest times of the year. It’s also nitrogen-fixing, maintaining its lush green shade without fertilising. The best part is that it only needs to be mowed a few times a year, as it maintains a soft grass carpet that attracts pollinators and deters weeds.
An easy way to create a low-maintenance garden is to not worry about a manicured lawn. If you prefer your grass to be wild and free, wild flower turf may be the best type of turf for you. The great part about wild flower turf (well, actually, there are lots!) is that it only needs to be mowed twice a year. By allowing it to grow freely, you earn yourself a lawn full of native, colourful flowers. It also supports pollinating insects, boosts the environment’s biodiversity, and provides a safe habitat for small critters.
There’s nothing more frustrating than watching your lawn turn from a freshly laid, vibrant green to a thin, dull brown. One common cause is lack of sunlight and turf struggling to thrive without soaking up vitamin D. This can become time-consuming and costly for gardeners to solve.
Thankfully, there’s a solution: Share-tolerant turf. Our Shade Tolerant Turf has been purposely grown to withstand sun-restricted areas. So, if you have a patch of grass shadowed by trees, hedges, or buildings, switch to shade-tolerant grass. Its deep roots can source vital nutrients from underground to ensure it maintains that thick sward and bright green. It also means it requires minor maintenance apart from the usual mowing.
The obvious choice that requires zero maintenance is artificial turf. Fake grass keeps its soft texture and green colour all year round without fertilising. As there are no roots, you don’t need to feed or water your turf or repair any dry or bald patches. Better yet, there’s absolutely no mowing involved. So, it maintains its manicured finish, ready to use whenever you wish.
Is there such a thing as a no-maintenance garden? Well, whether it’s a small city garden or a poolside deck, composite decking is the epitome of low-maintenance landscaping. Millboard’s incredible range of decking offers you a non-slip, non-rot, non-seal, weather-resistant, stain-resistant solution to exterior landscaping. With its easy-to-fit design and invisible fixings, it creates a smooth, sophisticated feature for your garden – one that you don’t have to regularly tend to or care for, and it will maintain its appearance for years to come.
If you’re not a decking fan, natural and porcelain stone also offer fantastic ground cover options. Indian sandstone provides a variety of colours and surface patterns to match your garden theme. The strength and durability of natural stone make it an excellent choice for low maintenance homeowners, with the only requirement being the installation and sealing of the slabs to protect them from the elements.
Porcelain paving slabs take low maintenance a step further. As they are non-porous, porcelain slabs do not absorb water and, therefore, don’t need to be sealed. They offer the same strength, qualities, and beauty as natural stone, but they have a more glamorous feel to them, which suits many modern landscaping and contemporary houses.
At George Davies, we have a wide range of stone products that can be used throughout your landscaping product to add texture, personalisation, and less hands-on gardening. Whether it’s a full patioed garden, a stone path, or a cobbled courtyard, stone naturally ties in with the surrounding environment, flora, and building architecture.
A deep, compacted-gravel pathway is a fantastic feature. Not only is there a range of colours and sizes to suit your garden style, but it’s also easy to create and offers many environmental benefits.
Whether it’s a pathway or ground cover, incorporating gravel into your landscaping helps define sections of your garden and make it appear bigger. All you need to do is dig a trench a few inches deep. Thoroughly weed the area before filling the trench with gravel. Use a rake to evenly spread it, and use your feet to press it into place. When the ground is prepped correctly, gravel acts as a brilliant weed suppressant. All the while, allowing water to drain freely into the soil below.
If you get confused about your annuals and perennials and how to care for them correctly, potted flowers might be a better (stress-free) option. Establishing the right flora for each season takes years to master! So, if you don’t have the time or patience, planning your favourite blooms in decorative pots is a quick way to add a pop of colour to your outdoor space. They’re also great for smaller gardens that might not have room for grand flowerbeds.
Perennials and evergreen shrubs are ideal for gardeners who have little time. You don’t need to worry about replanting or moving them into the shed during cold winters. You’re guaranteed that perennials will return with little input from yourself, and evergreens will keep their colour all year. You could also consider flowers such as lavender for their delicate scent and colour, as well as succulents that are famously known for thriving on their own.
As stunning as flowerbeds are, they can sometimes be impractical to maintain – especially deep flowerbeds. As an alternative, create raised flower beds from sleepers or stones. A raised bed keeps your floral design contained and easy to manage. They also take less toll on your back and posture as you won’t have to bend over so much.
To include raised flowerbeds in your garden design, first consider the location. Do you want them near your back door so they’re easy to access? Do you want them at a distance so you can admire them from your kitchen? Or are you using them to section your garden to create depth and detail? Once you’ve decided, build your raised bed, ensuring adequate drainage at the bottom. Add your soil and topsoil before planting your favourite flowers. You can always add a layer of mulch on top to help protect the soil and plant roots from the elements – another step to an easier gardening life!
A simple option for a low-maintenance garden is adding a water butt. Heavy and persistent rainfalls are common in the UK, so why not take advantage of that extra water? A water butt is an eco-friendly and sustainable solution to collecting and recycling rainwater. If collected during the wet seasons and stored, it will be ready to use in the summer when temperatures are at their highest. Not only does this reduce your environmental footprint, it helps reduce your water bills and provides a quick and easy way to keep your garden hydrated.
With life becoming busier, we understand why you want to make life simpler where you can. The good thing is that you can enjoy a wonderful outdoor space without sacrificing too much. Get in touch with our customer service experts to discuss which landscaping materials would be best to incorporate into your garden project. Better yet, come and visit us at our Olney or St. Albans branches and see our range of turf and stone products for yourself.
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