Best Landscaping Materials for Low-Maintenance Gardens

Maintaining an entire garden might feel daunting if you’re time-restricted or not quite at head gardener level. As lives become busier and gardens become smaller, we understand why you want to make the most of your outdoor space with minimal hassle.

In this article, we explore how to incorporate landscaping materials into your garden without excessive work. From clover turf to porcelain paving, explore how you can create a stunning low-maintenance garden and which type of landscaping will be the easiest to maintain.

What is a Low-Maintenance Garden?

A low-maintenance garden is an outdoor space that requires minimal gardening tasks, such as mowing, fertilising, weeding, or overseeding. There are many ways to reduce these repeated (and sometimes time-consuming) gardening chores while maintaining a beautiful and functional garden.

But how do you create a low-maintenance garden? Consider an efficient garden layout, low-maintenance flowers or turf, and eco-friendly, sustainable landscaping materials like Millboard or natural stone to create a gorgeous garden with minimal effort.

Low-Maintenance Landscaping Material Options

Clover Turf

While traditional grass lawns can be high-maintenance with frequent watering, mowing, fertilising and overseeding, Clover Turf offers an excellent, eco-friendly alternative that requires little attention. It’s one of the many reasons it’s becoming a popular turf choice!

Clover turf is naturally drought-resistant, so it requires less watering, even during the hottest times of the year. It’s also nitrogen-fixing, maintaining its lush green shade without the need for fertilising. The best part is that it only needs to be mowed a few times a year, as it maintains a soft grass carpet that attracts pollinators and deters weeds.

Wild Flower Turf

An easy way to create a low-maintenance garden is to forgo the need for a manicured lawn. If you prefer your grass to be wild and free, wild flower turf may be the best type of turf for you. The great part about wild flower turf (well, actually, there are lots!) is that it only needs to be mowed twice a year. By allowing it to grow liberally, you earn yourself a lawn full of native, colourful flowers. It also supports pollinating insects, boosts the environment’s biodiversity, and provides a safe habitat for small critters.

Shade Tolerant Turf

There’s nothing more frustrating than watching your lawn turn from a freshly laid, vibrant green to a thin, dull brown covering. One common cause is a lack of sunlight, which can cause turf to struggle to thrive without soaking up vitamin D. This can become time-consuming and costly for gardeners to resolve.

Thankfully, there’s a solution: Share-tolerant turf. Our Shade Tolerant Turf has been purposely grown to withstand sun-restricted areas. So, if you have a patch of grass shadowed by trees, hedges, or buildings, switch to shade-tolerant grass. Its deep roots can source vital nutrients from underground to ensure it maintains a thick sward and bright green colour. It also means that it requires minimal maintenance, apart from the usual mowing.

Artificial Turf

The most obvious choice, requiring zero maintenance, is artificial turf. Fake grass maintains its soft texture and green colour all year round without requiring fertilisation. As there are no roots, you don’t need to feed or water your turf or repair dry or bald patches. Better yet, there’s absolutely no mowing involved. So, it maintains its manicured finish, ready for use whenever you wish.

Opt for No-Mow Landscaping

Millboard Composite Decking

Is there such a thing as a no-maintenance garden? Well, whether it’s a small city garden or a poolside deck, composite decking is the epitome of low-maintenance landscaping.

Millboard’s incredible range of decking offers you a non-slip, non-rot, non-seal, weather-resistant, stain-resistant solution to exterior landscaping. With its easy-to-fit design and invisible fixings, it creates a smooth, sophisticated feature for your garden; one that requires minimal maintenance and will retain its appearance for years to come.

Stone Paving

If you’re not a decking fan, natural and porcelain stone also offer fantastic ground cover options. Indian Sandstone provides a range of colours and surface patterns to complement your garden theme. The strength and durability of natural stone make it an excellent choice for low-maintenance homeowners, with the only requirement being the installation and joining of slabs to protect them from the elements.

At George Davies, we offer a wide range of stone products that can be used throughout your landscaping project to add texture, personalisation, and reduce the need for hands-on gardening. Whether it’s a full patioed garden, a stone path, or a cobbled courtyard, stone naturally ties in with the surrounding environment, flora, and building architecture.

Porcelain Paving

Porcelain paving slabs take low-maintenance to the next level. As they are non-porous, porcelain slabs do not absorb water and, therefore, don’t need to be sealed. They offer the same strength, qualities, and beauty as natural stone, but with a more glamorous feel, which suits many modern landscaping and contemporary homes. View our blog on the benefits of porcelain to see if they’re the best fit for you.

Gravel Pathways

A deep, compacted-gravel pathway is a fantastic feature! Not only is there a range of stone colours and sizes to suit your garden style, but it’s also easy to create and offers many environmental benefits.

Whether it’s a pathway or ground cover, incorporating gravel into your landscaping helps define sections of your garden and make it appear bigger. All you need to do is dig a trench a few inches deep. Thoroughly weed the area before filling the trench with gravel. Use a rake to spread it evenly, and use your feet to press it into place. When the ground is prepped correctly, gravel acts as a brilliant weed suppressant. All the while, allowing water to drain freely into the soil below.

View our blog on laying decorative aggregate to get it right the first time.

Natural Bark Coverage

Bark is an easy and cost-effective way to cover a lot of ground! As a natural by-product of timber, it also offers an eco-friendly landscaping option that looks great by adding colour and texture to your garden design. Bark also offers beneficial properties, such as being a weed suppressant, protecting soil from freezing conditions, and aiding in water drainage and retention to prevent waterlogging.

Keep Flora Simple

Pick Pots Instead

If you get confused about your annuals and perennials and how to care for them correctly, potted flowers might be a better (stress-free) option. Establishing the right flora for each season takes years to master! So, if you don’t have the time or patience, planning your favourite blooms in decorative pots is a quick way to add a pop of colour to your outdoor space. They’re also great for smaller gardens that might not have room for grand flowerbeds.

Plant Hardy Flowers

Perennials and evergreen shrubs are ideal for gardeners with limited time. You’re guaranteed that perennials will return with little input from yourself, and evergreens will keep their colour all year. You could also consider flowers such as lavender for their delicate scent and colour, as well as succulents that are famously known for thriving on their own.

Raise Your Beds

As stunning as flowerbeds are, they can sometimes be impractical to maintain. As an alternative, create raised flower beds from sleepers or stones. A raised bed keeps your floral design contained and easy to manage. They also take less toll on your back and posture as you won’t have to bend over so much.

To include raised flowerbeds in your garden design, first consider the location. Do you want them near your back door so they’re easy to access? Do you want them at a distance so you can admire them from your kitchen? Or are you using them to section your garden, creating depth and detail? Once you’ve decided, build your raised bed, ensuring adequate drainage at the bottom. Add your soil and topsoil before planting your favourite flowers. You can always add a layer of mulch on top to help protect the soil and plant roots from the elements, another step to an easier gardening life!

Add A Water-Butt

A simple option for a low-maintenance garden is adding a water butt. Heavy and persistent rainfalls are common in the UK, so why not take advantage of that extra water? A water butt is an eco-friendly and sustainable solution for collecting and recycling rainwater. If collected during the wet seasons and stored, it will be ready to use in the summer when temperatures are at their highest. Not only does this reduce your environmental footprint, but it also helps reduce your water bills and provides a quick and easy way to keep your garden hydrated.

Speak to the Experts

The good thing is that you can enjoy a wonderful outdoor space without too much effort. Get in touch with our friendly experts to discuss the best landscaping materials for your project. Better yet, come and visit us at our St Albans branch to see our range of turf and stone products for yourself.

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