Low Maintenance Gardening, Rockies Style - Part 1

You don't have to be a gardening addict to embrace this simple sentiment and yet many backyards become another time consuming chore crowding in on your already busy schedule - where is the "happiness and repose" in that? But take heart. The following advice from experts will reveal how a low maintenance landscape can be full of "happiness and repose", plus down right stunning!

A word of caution, "low maintenance" shouldn't be confused with the myth of "maintenance free" gardening. The latter belongs in the same magazine with baldness cures, how to lose 50 pounds by Friday, and sure fire anti-aging tonics. We only wish it were true... Education and discipline are the key ingredients in developing your low maintenance yard. This will be the beginning of an three part installment dealing with low maintenance gardening in one of the most challenging and diverse regions - The Rocky Mountains.

Part 1 - Choose Your Plants Wisely

Reject plants that are not hardy to your zone. The Rockies covers multiple zones from a harsh zone 1, where sticking with alpine plants may be your best bet, to a warmer zone 5 where soft fruit orchards abound. Avoid anything that does not promise to flourish in your area. Aunt Fifi's spell-binding Vancouver rhododendrons might seem an irresistible choice and you will find them sold locally (because some Rocky Mountain gardeners can't resist a challenge). With careful soil amendment, special fertilizer, burlap wrap for "under zone 6" winters, you will be left with a shabby bush for all your high maintenance work! Believe it or not, for Aunt Fifi's "zone 7 yard" this is a low maintenance shrub. On the other hand, don't be put off by plants that might suggest high maintenance by reputation. The beloved 'rose', for example, covers everything from the notoriously fussy Hybrid teas to new "Rockies hardy", stunning and disease resistant shrubs now on the market.

Trees and shrubs add year-round beauty, often with very little maintenance. A common mistake is not considering full grown size. Recall the 60 foot spruce with its roots cracking the foundation of a house, while its too close branches scrape the siding, dropping needles that clog the eaves trough. Consider, for the first 15 years, this Spruce required little care and looked well-suited to its location. Identify plant maturity size before digging the site and strongly resist urges to plant what looks good now at the expense of a future giant headache!

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