Low Maintenance Garden Design - Don't Make These 10 Mistakes!

Don't make these design mistakes if you want a low maintenance garden. Reduce work in the garden with better design.

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Low Maintenance Garden Design - Don't Make These 10 Mistakes!

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[srantoniomatos]

As a rpofessional landscape designer - do maintainance too - i agree with all you said.

Let me point one more: irrigation.

If one can design for no irrigation (and we can, in most cases) maintainance gets much easier. And cheaper. Cheaper to build, cheaper to maintain. And no risk of suden death if irrigation fails.

I do that on my 2 acre garden in 10 a mediterranean climate (sometimes no rain for 6 to 7 month, and realy dry hard soil) and no plants die. One just have to choose the right plants...it may take more time to establish and florish, but costs go down to about half.

[barbarahenn-pander]

All of these suggestions are very practical, functional and straight-up good design. I really appreciate this video.

[Angie-cilp]

Very informative! Weed barriers 🤦🏽‍♀️Thanks for sharing.

[onetuliptree]

I moved to a house with some of these mistakes, especially landscape fabric in the beds. With several inches of composted mulch on top, it's like a heavy dirt carpet of weeds nailed to the soil with roots.

[artistapprentice]

Thank you! Love your videos. I always learn something.

[katiejo]

I put in plastic edging, it was so ugly, i decided to use it as a form for a concrete form. It took me 4 more days, after the concrete cured i took out the plastic, now i have a solid permanent edge.

[tjcihlar]

A few things I have found: 1. I avoid very short and loose ground cover (like creeping phlox, scabiosa) because grass and weeds tend to grow right through it. Hummingbird trumpet and perennial geranium are low but it is vigorous enough to blanket and take over. 2. Watch the location of the sprinklers, so that the one plant I put in front of the sprinkler is happy and everything behind it is dry. 3. Like mentioned, planting things in the lawn does lead to a lot of weeding (grass encroaching) and a lot of work with the string trimmer. Using enough mulch to smother weeds helps. On the other hand, it was a lot easier to just stick things in the lawn to add a plant here and there than to create a bed and deal with the slope we had, which would have needed some terracing or some type of stabilization in order to take out the lawn.

[Stellasbaby]

This is really helpful! I paid a landscaper a lot of money and he did this to my tree. This volcano shape. This tree never bloomed and just doesn’t look healthy. I’m removing all that.

[CPAndy-xx]

I see "volcano" mulching around trees all over - wherever "landscaping" companies are contracted. The roots of those poor trees are growing up and theough the 6" of mulch around the trunks. "Help! I'm drowning!" Drives me crazy.

[racebiketuner]

You just described every yard in my zip code except for two that are mini farms.

[nnagle]

Great tips and a reality check for considering maintenance and growth habits when picking your living elements.

[jennhoff]

This was really helpful! Thanks. I would love to see your garden design sometime. I'm trying to reduce us having to use the string trimmer all over. I'd love to see what you've implemented to make that happen.

[drakekoefoed]

this garden in the pic is a high maintenance garden. as a retired landscaper i would look at it for what it will need. edging, mowing, pruning, weeding. this place has it all.

low maintenance is concrete. if you want something more attractive, work with nature. don't plant photinia fraserii where you want a six foot hedge and trim it till it's heavy lumber with a layer of leaves on. use it where you want full sized 15' shrubs, plant them in something other than a straight line, and let them grow as they like, with some invisible trimming with the one hand shears when they are young to push them into the space you want them in.

the mixed perennial bed is as much work as lawn but so much nicer. get a focal area for that bed, make it not too huge, and right next to the window or the gazebo or whatever will put it where you see it a lot. if you have slopes, sometimes you can get a retaining wall of say, 3' and put the cool little things right there where you get to see them up close and can weed them without bending over. grass areas, mow high with a riding mower, avoid edging, and use something like the hunter p series gear drive sprinklers.

splendid flowering trees like hopa crab, fwr cherry will grow very large and make a stunning show and some nice shade, no weeding and little pruning.

if your climate will support fruit trees, put some in your backgrounds where any tree would be nice. a garden with a nice plum in it beats hell out of one that is nothing but work.

[vma]

This is excellent. Any chance you want some pictures of my home? I would love to have you share your thoughts on my place.

[georgiacinq-mars]

My mistake: I planted two multi stem trees with 30 ft spread, they are 17 feet away from the house, thinking this will keep the branches from the house for the most part.

I did not take into consideration that stems lean bringing it a good 5 feet closer to the house. It’s been a challenge.

[brucejensen]

I too just mow not trim. Why do they design mowers with things sticking on the outside of the cutter that catch on things like fences. Shits me.

[GARDENER]

I'm averse to having grass in a garden unless there's nothing else.
Unless you want a football (soccer) field, there are many, far better alternatives.

[Sunweaver]

My house had THREE layers plastic landscape fabric! Apparently when one layer failed the numbskull owners just added another layer and covered with bark dust . It took me TWO years to remove most of it, tree roots were growing through and between layers and the soil underneath was barren of life. Now we have worms and other critters happily doing their thing. I still dig up plastic shreds after ten years. NIGHTMARE!

[TheTrock]

I have heavy clay soil that is pH 7.2. After killing several fruit trees, I started ripping 2x12's out of Black Locust and building 6'x6' raised beds to plant the new trees in. I made rich soil that was around 6.5 pH, and the new trees are doing well. They start producing fruit at least a year sooner too.

[BrendaMaestos]

designedbyai AI fixes this (AI Architectural Designs). Avoid these low maintenance mistakes!