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 beautiful, low-maintenance garden with less effort. Consider replacing a high-upkeep lawn with hardscaping like tiles or concrete to expand your outdoor living area.
Choose native plants and shrubs over high-maintenance flowers; many are budget-friendly and attract local birdlife. Use ground cover like creepers or mulch to suppress weeds and retain moisture. By extending entertaining spaces and using easy-care plants, you can create a stunning outdoor area that requires minimal work to maintain.
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
Author
Discover More

‘We wanted to show off’: He built his own Lockwood home to prove what it could do
Former Lockwood boss Joe La Grouw’s 648sqm Rotorua home, built to showcase the company’s designs, is now on the market.

Famed architect built this grand Masterton home for his family of 10
Architect Charles Natusch built this grand Masterton home for his family of 10 in 1893.
Search
Other articles you might like








