We all would love to relax in the garden as well as spend time gardening it! Here are our tips on how to spend more time relaxing in the garden.
Replace a fast growing hedge with a fence – no more feeding and pruning! Or if you still want a hedge, go for a slow growing one like Ilex.
Reduce the size of your lawn by planting more trees and under plant them with evergreen groundcovers e.g. Hostas, Vincas etc.
Replace or reduce your lawn with gravel or paving - a lawn is very high maintenance.
Have a larger selection of evergreens and deciduous groundcovers, shrubs and trees and fewer annuals.
Instead of annual sowing, try a perennial meadow.
Replace a few perennial beds with more evergreen shrubs.
Reduce your containers – they need lots of maintenance, just have a few for splashes of colour in pots in your garden.
Install deep gravel paths instead of grassy walkways. Gravel paths allow water to drain freely and don’t require as much maintenance that grassy walkways.
Use a weed suppressing-membrane and cover with bark to safe you lots of time on your knees weeding!
Plant the right plants in the right type of soil. It’s much harder keeping a blue Hydrangea blue in alkaline soil. Rather plant a pink hydrangea.
Until next time!
Monica, Horticulturalist at Powerscourt Garden Pavilion.
