Feature article
Not a green thumb? Here are 5 ways to create a thriving low maintenance garden
A low-maintenance garden lets you toil less and enjoy your outdoor space more. Here are five easy low-upkeep ideas.
20 May 2024

AI summary
Create a thriving, low-maintenance garden with a few clever choices. Focus on reducing upkeep by replacing your lawn with hardscaping like decks or tiles to extend outdoor living areas.
Key strategies include:
- Planting hardy native trees and shrubs.
- Using ground cover plants and mulch to suppress weeds.
- Swapping high-maintenance flowers for flowering shrubs.
These tips help you design a beautiful outdoor space that requires less work, letting you enjoy it more.
1. Ditch the lawn
In this alfresco area, hardscaping allows for a beautiful low maintenance space. Image: Simon Devitt
2. Go native
This house, designed by Jerram Tocker Barron Architects embraces the natural landscape of native bush rather than creating a garden. Image: Jason Mann
3. Ground cover
This Westmere landscape design by Strachan Group Landscape Architects incorporates vast areas of ground cover, alleviating maintenance requirements. Image: David Straight
4. Extend outdoor entertaining areas
The landscaping around this house, designed by Jerram Tocker Barron Architects, embraces a mix of hardscaping softened with lush planting around the edges. Image: Virginia Woolf
5. Swap flowers for shrubs
This landscape design that surrounds a holiday home at Lake Rotoiti incorporates low maintenance garden borders. Image: Simon Devitt
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