I’m new to gardening and looking to set up a low maintenance garden…?
My mom and I would like to plant a garden in front of our house. We have plenty of plantable space, but very little knowledge of gardening! We want a flower garden that is low maitenence. We both have busy schedules, and though we’re planning on putting in effort, working on the garden daily would not be possible for us. We are looking to plant perenials and not have to replant every year. We just want a pretty but simple garden that will not require us to spend excess amounts of time working on it. I don’t know anything about different flowers with different climates, but we live in central Ohio.
Experienced gardeners: do you have any suggestions for what to plant and how to start?
June 28th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
I live in central Ohio also. Go to Oakland Nursery either in Dublin or in Delaware and talk to someone who works there. They have a huge variety of plants, on sale last I saw. The employees are very knowledgable and will be able to help you.
June 28th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Try an herb garden– always fun and can be very easy to maintain. Plus works nice if you like to cook!
and ps, jim loves me, not pam. 🙂
June 28th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
I have been gardening for 40+ years and would highly suggest a form of raised bed gardening. Google “SquareFoot Gardening” and similar sites. This is seriously the most efficient and trouble free gardening in terms of weeds and watering. As far as varieties of plants suggest ordering seed catalogues from Stokes, Burpee, and a dozen others. Again Google Seeds and gardens, etc. With these ideas you should get a good start and a great education.
June 28th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
First make sure you put down some weed barrier. You can get it at a store like Lowe’s or Home Depot. It will keep the weed from coming up. Then put miracle grow or a similar brand of soil on top of that making a raised bed. 99% of the time the soil already in your yard doesn’t have the right texture or ability to control moisture. Then get some flowering shrubs, like Indian Hawthorne. It will stay green year round and flower in the spring. Then when you buy perennials use ones that flower at different times of the year so that something is always blooming in your garden. I like to use hardy plants like Plumbego that don’t reqire much watering. Then just make sure you water it when the soil feels dry one inch below the surface, and not any more often than that. That should keep it low maintenence an beautiful all year!
June 28th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
I started out several years ago learning as I went along and now this year I have decided to have just herbs in big containers with sand and pea gravel throughout the walking area next year. The first year I dug everything really well and used lots of peat and manure and it was wonderful. But as time went by I got older and tireder of doing all that work so this year I still have the herbs, roses, raspberry bushes and just one big tomato plant and one pepper plant. It’s easier to just buy from the farmer’s market only 15 minutes from my house. The point is that I have been out there every year and it is so healthy for mind, body, and soul, that I will probably always have something in that corner. Like I heard from so many gardeners when I started, it can always be changed or moved if you don’t like it or it doesn’t work for you. That’s the great part, it is NOT SET IN CONCRETE. Just have fun!! Just do what you love instead of struggling to do it right. Any plant that makes you go oooooh, get it.
June 28th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
I live in Ohio also. Feel free to check out my website at:
http://www.gardening-quick-n-easy.com
There you’ll find some easy care, easy maintenance flowers and plants that will do well in Ohio. I’m pretty much a weekend gardener myself so there are also some tips for easy planting, mulching, and weeding.
*~ Have fun ‘n ENJOY ~*