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Low Maintenance Gardenscapes

Low Maintenance Gardenscapes

Anna Kappler |

We all know as the seasons change, life gets busy! Here, at Knippel garden centre, you will find the plants to create the perfect low maintenance gardenscape for your outdoor living spaces. Take back your time from mowing and meticulous lawn care by planting low maintenance shrubs and perennials!

In just 2 steps, you can create an outdoor oasis that requires nearly no maintenance each year.

 

1. PICK THE RIGHT PLANTS FOR THE RIGHT SPACE

Meeting the sunlight and soil requirements for your plants is the first step in creating a low maintenance garden. 

FULL SUN means your plant gets over 6 hours of bright sun a day. Remember, afternoon sun is REALLY hot so even some full sun plants may be sensitive to the area. Full sun plants like daylilies, russian sage, paniculata hydrangeas, sedums, and ginkgo trees are excellent low maintenance plants that can tolerate extreme sun conditions. 

 

 

Part sun means that you get between 4-6 hours of sun, but it is less harsh and less direct than afternoon exposure. This might be east facing morning sun or sun that's been filtered through trees. In Ottawa, most native plants thrive in part-sun conditions with well draining soil. This means after it rains, there is no standing water. You can shop native plants on our website and in store throughout the growing season.

Full shade plants get less than 4 hours of sun. These perennials typically don't like to be in rock gardens where they would have to struggle with heat and drought. Full shade plants like bugbane, bigleaf hydrangeas, ferns, dogwoods, and Canadian Hemlock can offer a variety of colours and textures to create full shade gardens. 

If you aren't sure what your light and soil climate is, you can always use garden technology like the 3-in-1 plant meter that can tell you the pH of your garden bed, the sun level, and the soil drainage. 

2. PICK PLANTS THAT "PRUNE" AT THE SAME TIME

Most plants benefit from the occasional prune, but unlike annuals, roses, or flowering plants that require frequent deadheading, a low maintenance garden is pruned maybe twice a year. 

Good planting combinations can be based on the new growth and flowering cycles. 

Growth Season  Plants Pruning Season
Early Spring
  • spireas
  • roses
  • potentillas
  • butterfly bush
  • ornamental grasses
  • willows
  • dogwoods

Early spring BEFORE buds open

(removing seed pods, weak or winter damaged stems, shaping, and encouraging new growth)
Early spring 
  • lilacs
  • evergreens
  • ninebarks
  • Peonies
  • Mockorange
  • forsythia
  • fruiting plants

Summer or AFTER flowering

(removing seed pods, weak or winter damaged stems, shaping, and encouraging new growth)
Summer and Fall
  • paniculata and arborescens hydrangeas
  • perennial hibiscus
  • coneflowers
  • perennial succulents and sedums
  • vining plants

Late fall, early winter

(mainly for shaping and cleaning before winter)

 

When you come in to shop at our garden centre, our staff will be able to help you choose the right plants for a low-maintenance garden that can match your pruning schedule, light requirements, and soil conditions. Our popular recommendations include daylilies, ninebarks, evergreens and hydrangeas because they are tolerant to different soil, light, and temperature conditions. 

 

 

 

Come on in and shop perennials, shrubs, and trees to create your low maintenance outdoor oasis today!
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