Everyone who owns a garden likes to enjoy its benefits. TRUE. Everyone who has a garden loves to garden. Not really.

In any case, for me it is not. I like to rest, have BBQs with friends, have my breakfast in the morning when the first sunny days arrive.

On the other hand, as soon as spring comes to the fore and nature wakes up, the big puffs of anxiety and stress begin for me: I will have to mow, prune, and in autumn: pick up the leaves again and again… Of course, I’m deliberately exaggerating, but I admit that if I could do without gardening chores, I would be all the better for it.

Well, imagine that it is possible to have a beautiful garden (almost) without maintenance.

Choose your plants well

The researchers were not mistaken. We live in a modern world that values ​​leisure without drudgery. The garden for the French is exactly like this: the less you do, the better off you are! Fortunately, our expert friends, by dint of reflection and crossbreeding, have succeeded in creating a whole varied range of plants whose maintenance is minimal, if not zero.

Minimal maintenance (all the same) ie once a year and  most often at the end of winter. They are self-cleaning and get rid of their faded flowers on their own. They are disease resistant. They don’t take much water.

They are hardy, that is to say totally adapted to the climate in which they are found, so they do not require any winter protection. They have an elegant natural shape, even if they are not pruned every year.

Against weeds: “ground covers”

They are so called because they spread out on the ground, without gaining height (or little). The density of their foliage completely covers the ground physically preventing any weeds from growing.

Depending on the exposure of the areas to be covered (in the sun or in the shade) you will have to compose as follows:

Care-free plants in the shade

They are rarer than those that bloom in full sun. One of the most suitable ground cover plants for a shady spot is Pachysandra terminalis. We also have: lily of the valley, saxifrage umbrosa, blue creeping bugle (Ajuga reptans), epimedes, Lamium maculatum,…

A provencal inspiration: lavender

It is well known that if lavender grows in Provence and is harvested from the end of July, it is because it is totally adapted to the dry and sunny climatic conditions of the country of Manon des Sources.

So you think! In your temperate garden in the Paris region, your lavender bed will flourish vigorously and without special watering, if, of course, you plant it facing the sun.

And if you put some evergreen shrubs?

Among the shrubs, there are ornamental species that will provide you with a green and colorful decor of quality while requiring little maintenance.

If you have nothing against a “a little messy” and wild appearance, I invite you to set your sights on some ornamental grasses.

They will very quickly create effects of colored tufts. As with ground cover plants:  the higher the planting density, the less space there is for weeds  (weeds and unwanted plants).

It limits watering:  Mulching absorbs water and maintains the humidity of your soil. This is a good method to reduce water intake!

It avoids chemical weeding as much as possible:  mulching prevents light from reaching the ground, preventing weeds from growing.

It avoids the phenomena of caking:  that is to say compaction of the earth under the action of rain on clay soils.

It improves the structure of the soil:  by using an organic mulch that will decompose over time, you naturally enrich your soil and thus make it more fertile

It improves the health of your plants:  the mulch acting as a protective screen for your soil, it smooths out temperature differences as well as differences in humidity, reducing stress on plants, which grow better.

It promotes the proliferation of microbes in the soil:  like your plants, all the micro-organisms necessary for the creation of a soil rich in fertilizers and amendments like to evolve and develop in a stable environment (temperature and humidity).

After all these good tips, all you have to do is apply them  and work a little anyway so that your garden becomes, year after year, a garden of pleasures and almost maintenance-free.

Concrete the entire surface of your garden.

Resell your house in favor of a small condominium whose green spaces will be maintained by a landscaping company.