“Low Maintenance” has been a popular phrase in the gardening media for ages now, long enough to create plenty of confusion on the subject. So let’s start with the question: What is maintenance? The answer depends on the task and the person accomplishing it.

To many nongardeners, all gardening or yard work is considered maintenance and is to be avoided. And when it comes to such duties as applying chemicals, hassling with sprinklers, mowing and blowing, even avid gardeners are trying to avoid them. In fact, we sometimes call those duties “yardening,” not gardening.

Real gardeners generally want to spend time in their gardens tending the plants and dreaming up new design schemes and plant combos. So while we agree with nongardeners in wanting to avoid the drudgework duties (and duties they are), we actually enjoy tasks like pruning, deadheading old blossoms, hand-watering, weeding, and checking on our plants daily — anything to be in the garden. I offer as Exhibit A my dear old gardening mom who, after moving into a townhouse with almost no land to tend, would offer to drive 100 miles to weed my garden — she missed it that much. And I myself have been known to weed the gardens of bed and breakfasts where I’m a guest. So yes, it’s an addiction and there’s no 12-Step Program for it.

But sometimes even diehard gardeners need low-maintenance gardens, due to physical limitations or too many demands on their time. And we all want to limit garden maintenance to tasks that are creative or relaxing, so these principles of low-maintenance (or more accurately, low-drudgery) garden design are for everyone.

Clearly the least work of any landscape solution is to pave or deck over your entire property, but if you liked those ideas you wouldn’t be reading this site, now would you? So let’s assume you enjoy things that grow — plants! — and appreciate their contributions to air and water quality, not to mention your own quality of life.

Masses are your friend

Planting in sweeps and masses of just a few plants is a popular recommendation for reducing maintenance — the larger the mass the better. (For large plants, groups of 5 to 10; for smaller ones, 10 to 30.) This limited plant selection makes it easier to keep up with their care and prevent their intrusion on each other. Also, the fewer the species, the easier it is to limit yourself to those that are well suited to your site. And aesthetically, massing of plants usually results in a better looking garden, one that’s restful to the eye, not chaotic.

On the other hand, wildlife is better served by a diversity of plants, so eco-friendly gardeners keep that in mind, too.

Lawn v. its Alternatives

The delawning movement is in full swing, but if low maintenance is important to you, think very carefully before joining. For sunny spots the meadow look is often suggested but seen up-close around your home, meadows are unsightly most of the year, and much more work than you’d imagine. (There’s also concern about the unwanted wildlife they attract, like ticks that carry Lyme’s Disease.) Replacing lawn with flower beds certainly creates more maintenance work for the gardener - though if you like to garden then by all means go for it! But if low-maintenance is your top priority, I suggest keeping the lawn unless A, you can get rid of ALL of it (simply reducing the area that's mowed, watered, and fed doesn't help much) and B, you're replacing the turfgrass with trees and shrubs.

For shady spots where turfgrasses don't grow well anyway, woodland gardens with paths meandering through them are very practical and good-looking, too. They take advantage of the low-maintenance qualities of trees and shrubs, and shade gardens have fewer weeds and need less watering. In urban and older suburban areas I often suggest eliminating the small front lawn but keeping some lawn in the back for family fun. (See the Lawn Reform Coalition's website for great-looking lawnless yards and suggestions for taking the plunge.)

Lawn, which is definitely a lot of work to grow to golf-course perfection, isn't particularly high-maintenance for most homeowners, who grow good-enough lawns with some weeds in it. Then especially if it's allowed to go dormant in high summer, it's easy to care for and does a good job of retaining rainwater and preventing erosion. (I’ve read that lawn doesn’t hold rainwater well but honestly, it’s done a great job on my own sloping property. However, when planted in very poor soils — often post-construction — lawn can indeed fail to hold water like it should.) Here's what the Lawn Reform Coalition recommends for lawn care that's both low-maintenance and eco-friendly.

Gorgeous, easy borders

Most homeowners in Maryland will continue to have some lawn, partly because it's the best surface for play and but also because design-wise, larger plants look so great arrayed around it in borders. And the type of border that looks most natural, is easy to care for and is best for wildlife, too, is what’s called the American Mixed Border, as popularized by Ann Lovejoy in her book by that name and others that followed. The basic design principle in these borders is copying nature, especially the way forests transition into meadows. Think about it. In the background are the tallest trees — the forest. In front of them are understory trees like dogwoods. In front of them are the shrubs, then shorter plants and finally, groundcover. And remember, the least-maintenance borders contain only small trees and shrubs.