A guide to low maintenance plants and shrubs for busy mums

 *This is a guest post 

Having a garden of your own couldn’t be more wonderful. Unfortunately, your hectic schedule can sometimes stop you from taking care of it. Office tasks, family, other appointments, etc. are just some of the things that you need to prioritize. So, how can you possibly keep your garden attractive as ever for the whole year? Well, credits to what we call low maintenance plants and shrubs.

Low-maintenance shrubs or plants help your save time while keeping your garden’s beauty.

There are lots of low maintenance plants and shrubs to choose from. However, it wouldn’t be a very satisfiable reason for you to choose a low-maintenance plant or shrub just because it is self-sufficient. Instead, it is also a must to consider the other things that it may offer to the beautification of your garden. So, here are the standards that you may set to have the best low-maintenance plants or shrubs.

Appearance

This should be on top your list. The appearance of your plants and shrubs is the major contributor of your garden’s beauty.

Ornamental features

Your plant or shrubs must also have versatility in its features. Through this, it won’t be difficult for you to think of some roles for your plant or shrub in your garden.

Multi-seasonal

You need to settle with a low-maintenance plant or shrub which can endure any season. Attractive multi-seasonal plant or shrub will save your time and effort while giving your garden the best look all year round.

Uniqueness

In relation to being multi-seasonal, the plant or shrub that you are going to choose must have the characteristic to shine, especially in a season when most plants and shrubs don’t.

Now that you have set those standards for choosing the best low-maintenance plants and shrubs, it’s time for you to do the selection. So, here are some of the best low maintenance plants and shrubs that you might want to consider.

Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea

This has large flowerheads with beautiful double blossoms. This distinctive shrub is a native to the southeastern US. Taking care of this plant doesn’t cause a lot of hassle. This can deal with sunny weather, provided it is given enough moisture. Aside from that, a little pruning may also do. For its propagation, you need to plant seeds in a cold frame during spring season. Then, you can do the softwood cuttings in summer and the hardwood cuttings in winter.

 

The amazing thing about the Oakleaf Hydrangea flowers is that they turn into pink as they age.

Purple Smoke Bushes

Purple smoke bush, smoke bush, smoke tree, or purple smoke tree is widely known for its purple-pink plumes and its purple leaves. This bush must be grown in full sun. That’s why this also has a very high tolerance to drought. Aside from that, this can also grow in a variety of soils. Its propagation relies on cuttings and seeds.

This purple bush can be perfect for borders since they can grow long and sturdy.

Stewartstonian Azalea

This is a type of azalea that has a unique characteristic of having evergreen leaves. Since as a matter of fact, not all kinds of azaleas have this characteristic. Stewartstonian Azalea can contribute a lot to the beauty of your garden. The more you take care of it, the more it blooms and looks even more attractive. In growing this kind of azalea, you need to have a fertile, well-drained, and acidic soil. You also need to keep the soil moist; hence, you might need mulch to retain the right amount of moist it needs.

The Stewartstonian Azalea has the ability to attract a lot of butterflies.

Moonshadow Euonymus

The Moonshadow euonymus’ green-variegated yellow foliage contributes to its perfect beauty. This can grow until 24 inches at its older age and can have a width of 4 feet. If this shrub is given the best condition, then it survives until 30 years. This can adapt to both dry and wet areas. Aside from that, this can also work well even in polluted areas.

You can expect a full yellow colour of the leaves in the whole winter.

Gold Mound Spirea

This is a flowering shrub that produces pink flowers grouped. This can grow to 3 feet. You can expect the best foliage of gold mound spirea in spring and fall. For its maintenance,  this needs a full sun, well-drained soil, and compost.

The plant got its name from its most outstanding feature which is its golden leaves.

So there you have it – some low maintenance plants and shrubs to try out in your garden which will hopefully leave even the most brown thumb amongs us looking like know-it-all gardeners!

Author bio: Hi there! I’m Lucy – founder of GardenAmbition.com and I’m a self-confessed garden fanatic. Gardening has always been a passion of mine and will always be my favorite pastime. Now that I am married and have one adorable son, I have the time to write and share my personal experiences with other garden enthusiasts like me.

12 comments

  1. I really want to transform my garden as it is a bit boring at the moment as we have dug all the trees up to make more room. I am not really a gardener though so these sound ideal for someone like me who likes low maintenance things x

  2. Next on our hit list in the new place is the garden. We’re about to get some paving finished and grass seed put down to fill in gaps but after that I’d like to tidy up the existing plants and put in new ones, low maintenance ones. Those purple smoke bushes might fare well here in Portugal and the colour is lovely. Must look into them more!

  3. My mum and I were discussing this topic fairly recently actually. She’s looking for some low maintenance plants for the garden because she’s so busy and is also not in the best of health to be gardening. I love the sound of the Purple Smoke Bushes – they just look mysterious!

  4. I have a lovely big garden and luckily my dad looks after it for me as I tend to kill everything off! I love all these bushes, I have loads too. Kaz x

  5. We love spending time in the garden, but it is certainly time consuming. We actually get the little ones to help now and they love getting outside to pick the fruit from the fruit and veg patch. Hydrangeas are definitely good for a low maintenance plant for parents who don’t have a lot of time in the garden.

  6. Hello Talya, I really want to makeover my garden with new tips. I love gardening and planting new plant. I was searching the post and my searching ends here. This is an appreciable blog. Thanks and keep posting.

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