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Low-maintenance garden ideas

© Lorraine Flanigan

Tired of wielding a heavy lawnmower over a large lawn? As a lawn-alternative, consider a few of these time-saving design ideas for a low-maintenance garden:

Add a little Zen to your life

Design a dry landscape garden with a mulched floor of pebbles, a large, artfully placed rock and a Japanese-style stone lantern. If your lot is a shady one, soften the edges of the stone "garden" with ground-hugging euonymous, ferns and ivy. In a sunny location, try cotoneaster or low- growing evergreens like mugo pine and nest spruce.

Build a dry stream

Build a dry stream of smooth river stones. Shape the "stream" in a natural flow from the side of the house toward the street. To give stones the "Wet look", spray with shellac. One or two well- placed ornamental frogs and pond critters add to the illusion. Accent the area with a container planting of bonsai or a clipped shrub or tree.

Plant spring bulbs

Plant drifts of small bulbs like scilla, species crocus and species tulips throughout your lawn and garden for early spring colour. These bulbs naturalize well, multiplying year after year if their leaves are left alone to die back naturally. (Another excuse to leave the lawn unmowed for another few weeks!) These bulbs also look great growing through groundcovers like periwinkle, pachysandra and ivy.

Create a checkerboard

For a quick, formal design, create a checkerboard pattern of large paving stones alternating with gravel of a contrasting colour. In a sunny spot, replace the gravel with low-growing succulents like hens-and-chickens - the contrast between the paving stones and the succulents it stunning. Add a focal point to the garden with a large piece of statuary, a sundial or a grouping of planters filled with colourful, easy-care annuals.

Minimalist simplicity

A minimalist design calls for a mulch of soft, buff-coloured gravel. Through the gravel, weave an informal pathway of widely-spaced flagstones that lead to an outcropping of driftwood and dried seaweed. Accent the garden with a bold stand of grasses such as Miscanthus sacchariflorous 'Robustus' or Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster'.

Plant a meadow of wildflowers

Although a lot of work up-front, once established, wildflower meadows are self-sustaining. For best results, choose plants native to your region and soil conditions and be wary of "meadow in a can" products that promise easy, quick results. Some contain invasive plants that smother the more desireable meadow plants. Do plenty of research to save yourself plenty of grief!

Woodlands in the city

For a woodland look in a small city garden, raise the level of the garden by framing it with wooden landscape ties. Fill the area with loam. Plant a small group of hostas in a corner of this raised bed. Spread bark chip mulch over the remaining surface. In a corner, arrange a grouping of terra cotta pots filled with your favourite shade-loving annuals.