Plant the garden & easy-care design

Of course everyone can plant their garden however they want, but there are a few tricks that make life easier. We're here to help.

A garden should actually be a place of rest and relaxation - many gardeners, however, associate it with a lot of work and effort instead of just relaxing here. Mowing the lawn, trimming the hedge and pulling weeds are chores for many that, while tedious, seem inevitable. This leaves little time to enjoy the beauty of your own garden. But that doesn't have to be the case: if you follow a few tips and tricks when planting your garden, you can make your garden easy to care for without losing its attractiveness. Find out our best tips here.

Plant the garden

Designing a low-maintenance garden is not that difficult. In fact, if you follow this advice when planting, you can save yourself quite a bit of trouble.

1. Note the soil conditions

One problem that many gardeners are often unaware of is that their plants don't suit their garden. In fact, the decision when choosing a plant is often based on visual criteria - the soil requirements of the desired plant are only rarely taken into account. But if you don't choose your plants to suit their location in the garden, you end up doing more work than necessary: such plants often need significantly more fertilizer and water than suitable greenery. Therefore, pay attention to the soil structure in your garden and look for plants that are particularly well suited for this location. Rock garden plants are much better off in a dry, sunny location than forest or moor plants. In addition, you should rely on native plant species, as these are often more robust and require less care than exotic plants.

2. Plant ground cover

Pulling weeds is probably one of the most unpopular gardening tasks. Fortunately, there is a very simple trick that not only reduces annoying weeds, but also looks good: So-called ground cover, i.e. plants that have one thing in commonherbaceous and dense, but close to the ground growth, are perfect for the easy-care garden. Not only do they reliably suppress weeds, they also protect the soil from erosion and reduce the evaporation of water, so less watering is required. In addition, ground cover can also score points visually - particularly flowering ground cover plants such as the elf flower (Epimedium) quickly attract envious looks.

An equally effective alternative to groundcover is to cover gaps with mulch. Pine bark mulch, like our Plantura organic pine bark, is particularly decorative. This is sustainably manufactured in the EU and, with its coarse structure and natural coloring, ensures an aesthetic bed design. Just like ground cover, mulch also protects the soil from erosion, drying out and weed growth and is a real eye-catcher.

3. Wildflower meadow instead of English lawn

Law areas are particularly common in larger gardens and mostly serve as a place to play, run around and relax. Unfortunately, a well-groomed lawn also causes a lot of work, because regular lawn fertilization, mowing and scarifying are obligatory if the lawn is to remain beautiful for a long time. As an alternative, many people only think of a gravel bed or another paved area - these are easy to care for, but neither particularly beautiful nor environmentally friendly. Wildflower meadows, on the other hand, are easy to care for and ecologically valuable. These only have to be mowed once in June so that they bloom in their old glory next year.

4. Perennials instead of summer flowers

Marigold (Calendula officinalis), Begonias (Begonia semperflorens) and Fuchsias (Fuchsia ) have a permanent place in many gardens and are a real ornament with their pretty flowers. Unfortunately, the impressive flowers are anything but easy to care for, because as annual plants they have to be replanted every year and watered particularly intensively in dry periods. Robust and yet beautiful are hardy perennials - due to their roots, which dig much deeper into the ground than those of summer flowers, they can withstand drought better and are therefore much easier to care for. But you don't have to do without radiant flowers: lady's mantle (Alchemilla), wood aster (Eurybia divaricata) and daylilies (Hemerocallis ) enchant with their great flowers and their robustArt.

5. Easy-care tree species

Trees should not be missing in any garden, after all they are not only extremely decorative, but also provide important shade. But caring for many deciduous trees is difficult for most people - regular topiary in particular takes time and nerves and has caused many an accident. Nevertheless, you don't have to do without trees in the garden: Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), flowering cherry (Prunus) and witch hazel (Hamamelis ) belong, for example, to the ornamental trees, which can cope wonderfully without pruning. Globe trumpet tree (Catalpa 'Nana') and globe locust (Robinia 'Umbraculifera') also keep their round crown without being trimmed. If you want to snack without pruning, the service pear is a good choice.

6. Easy Care Roses

For many, roses (pink) should not be missing in the garden, after all the "queen of flowers" has an unmistakable charm. Unfortunately, the majestic plant also needs a lot of attention so that it can thrive optimally. Wild roses, on the other hand, are easier to care for: They require neither regular pruning nor fertilizer and are considered to be particularly robust. Nevertheless, they trump with their charming flowers and even deliver delicious rosehips in autumn. If you still prefer a breeding rose, you should pay particular attention to properties such as robustness and self-cleaning when choosing a variety.

7. Easy-care privacy screen

Nobody likes curious glances in the garden. This makes it all the more important for many garden owners to have a privacy screen that is not only easy to care for, but above all opaque. It is better not to use wood - it looks nice, but wooden fences need regular care in order not to become green and unsightly in the long term or even to rot. Powder-coated aluminum or hot-dip galvanized steel are more suitable here, as these are almost indestructible even without care. If you prefer to work with hedges and still want to have a low-maintenance garden, you should concentrate on flowering wild shrubs instead of typical topiary trees, as they require much less care. Bamboo (Bambusoideae) is also well suited as an easy-care privacy screen, but you should pay attention to a so-called rhizome barrier when planting - otherwise it will spreadQuickly plant out uncontrollably.

You can find more easy-care hedges in this article.

8. Raised beds

If you want to eat fresh vegetables from your own garden, you will quickly realize that this requires a certain amount of effort. But with a little planning, you can also make the vegetable patch as easy to care for as possible. Raised beds in particular are perfect for low-maintenance gardens. Even if constructing and laying out the raised bed is a little more complex than with normal beds, the purchase is always worthwhile - fewer weeds, less snail infestation and less fertilizer are just a few advantages that the raised bed has to offer. The fact that many raised beds can be winterized very easily also suggests that this form of vegetable cultivation is ideal for the garden.

10 tips for the perfect raised bed for your garden can be found here.