Unpretentious flowers - a garden without hassle. No hassle

A favorite garden should be shady, cozy and fragrant, and not at all demanding to care for. To do this, you need to know the basic principles of “gardening for lazy people” or “ lazy garden «.

Gardens that do not require special care have been invented a long time ago. Most often this is the so-called natural garden- What has grown has grown. Or " grandma's» - artistically overgrown, with no visible layout.

They have one thing in common: such a garden requires increased attention at the creation stage, but after two or three years it pleases with its beauty and does not require special care. Of course, you still have to do a little work:

• at least sometimes weed,
• water the garden as needed,
• in spring - remove last year's vegetation.

But it's not that difficult. And to avoid big problems, you just need to stay in tune with reality and not take the extraordinary garden with beautiful picture. Most often, such glossy photographs show the luxurious gardens of Greece, Spain, Turkey, where the climate is completely different, much more garden-loving and... lazy - after all, the local residents cannot imagine life without a siesta!

Hassle-free garden

So, let's start planning a garden for the lazy...

Trees

There should be a lot of trees and shrubs in our garden. They provide life-saving shade, shelter from prying eyes, bloom beautifully, and, most importantly, they are perennial, which means they require almost no trouble.

It is important not to buy capricious, moisture-loving shrubs or trees that require continuous pruning and feeding. The choice of the lazy(in the most beautiful sense of the word) -

• barberry,
• honeysuckle,
• lilac,
• Rowan.

Barberry bush in a lazy garden

Lilac blooms

If you dream of a hedge, but don’t want to bother with pruning shears, choose plants that don’t require regular trimming:

• rhododendron,
• mock orange
• hydrangeas,
• spirea

Blooming hydrangea bush

Spiraea for the lazy garden

If you do not have the time or opportunity to take care of your site, then you can entrust this to the professionals of our plant nursery, or initially plant plants taking into account their needs. Fastidious plants need regular loosening of the soil, watering, fertilizing, pruning, removing weeds, and protection from diseases and pests.

Creating a garden minimal care need to choose unpretentious plants, not requiring special care. But in order for it not to look too “rural”, you need to find a reasonable balance between wild plants and plants that require minimal care.

For creating beautiful flower beds, which do not require constant weeding and watering, you should properly prepare the soil once and select perennial plants based on the microclimate of your site. Wrongly chosen plants will die without having time to please you with their beauty.

For hedges, you can select slow-growing species, and some of the annuals can be replaced with perennial, long-flowering plants.

For a low-maintenance garden, plant grasses and self-seeding flowers.

Of course, there is no complete replacement for a lawn, but small lawns can be replaced with pebbles or turned into wild lawns that require minimal maintenance. Ground cover plants and creeping perennials form dense, low carpets above the soil surface. Ferns, cotoneaster, Fortune's euonymus, balsam fir, common juniper, yew - all of them are suitable for an area that does not require a lot of care.

Yew berry

Fruit trees and berry bushes are undemanding plants. Given the optimal location, they develop and bear fruit well. The main prerequisites for this are fertile soil, lots of sun and protected from strong wind, but ventilated place. Caring for dwarf forms in the garden is less complicated. At a lower altitude, it is easier to see pests and diseased parts of plants, and it is also easier to deal with them.

When planting new trees, it is necessary to provide them with support until they are firmly rooted. U fruit trees And berry bushes Growth, flowering and especially fruiting takes a lot of effort. Therefore for them great importance has constant replenishment nutrients in the soil. In spring, introduce into the soil organic fertilizers, mulch the soil, and also water it abundantly. The rest of the time, quality trees planted in good location, will require almost no maintenance.

It is enough to plant various bulbous flowers (crocuses, daffodils) only once, and then season after season they will develop larger areas without moving additional requirements to care for their owners. Only after the snow melts will they need a little compost and, in dry times, watering.

Climbing plants are well suited for a garden that requires minimal care - they are unsurpassed decorators and at the same time completely unpretentious, and ivy grows well in the shade.

The most important thing when creating a garden with minimal care is to choose high-quality planting material. When purchasing plants, pay special attention to their quality. The shoots must be strong and free from blemishes or damage. Much can be said from the leaves of the plant. By the location of the branches and main shoots, you can immediately determine the plant’s capabilities in forming a beautiful crown of the correct shape.

Choose strong varieties plants well adapted to temperate climate conditions, resistant to freezing and disease.

In our garden center you can count on the highest quality plants grown in the best nurseries in Europe, as well as in nurseries Leningrad region, and for professional advice from our specialists in

The pace of our lives often leaves city dwellers with neither the time nor the energy to actively take care of their garden; caring for it is increasingly becoming the lot of the older generation. How can we make sure that the garden is pleasing to the eye, but at the same time does not turn into a place of hard and endless labor?

Forest romance

If you are the owner forest plot, consider yourself very lucky. If only because there is somewhere to tie a hammock.

But seriously, such a natural garden requires practically no effort - nature will do everything itself if we do not interfere. Do not try to plant a vegetable garden here, plant apple trees and roses, dig a pond or pave paths. Need to in maximum degree preserve the natural, scientifically speaking, biocenosis, or ecosystem - do not collect fallen pine needles, do not mow down “weeds”, which are in fact just wild herbs. Don’t try to fight the “aliens”, but let them grow. Meadow grasses, geraniums, lupins, daisies and bluebells will delight you with their artless beauty.

It is only permissible to supplement the species composition, and then unobtrusively, by planting plants that are appropriate in such a garden - viburnum, elderberry, hawthorn, rowan or bird cherry.

Any attempts to make a lawn here will lead to nothing - grass will not grow in the shade. It is better to add ground cover to the garden shade-tolerant plants: pachysandra, various varieties of mountain weed and damselfish, creeping tenacious, ivy-leaved budra.

Over time, they will cover the ground with elegant carpets that do not require any maintenance.

It is also a good idea to enrich the composition of the flora of your site by planting lilies of the valley here. Various ferns would be appropriate. A textured plant with huge leaves, like butterbur, also looks great.

Petiolate hydrangea will feel good next to a tall pine or oak tree. This liana, blooming with a waterfall of white inflorescences, over the years can rise to a height of 6 - 8 m.

If you are not lazy and have the means, buy enough bulbs of galanthus (snowdrops), crocuses, scylla and daffodils (only small-flowered ones or the most classic, poetic ones; the latest selections will be inappropriate). In the fall, scatter them randomly in open areas, sunny places and bury them where they fell. AND long years In the spring, your garden will be colored with clumps of these primroses. At the same time, they do not need to be dug up; they will grow year after year. In summer, the leaves will die off on their own, without requiring any additional effort from you.

Garden from scratch

It’s another matter if your site is like Blank sheet paper. In this case, creating a “garden for the lazy” will require compliance with some strict rules.

And God forbid you plant dahlias, gladioli and tulips here. They require annual digging, disinfection, drying and storage. If gladioli bulbs can still be put in the refrigerator, then what should we do with dahlias? It goes without saying that you don't need to bother with annual plants, even if you bought ready-made seedlings. Eternal headache with watering will cool your ardor. They are also blacklisted hanging baskets with petunias and all kinds of containers - they dry out quickly. Not to mention the fact that you won’t be able to leave them during the holidays. Unless the neighbors agree to water.

To really relax in your garden, you need to abandon the usual model: vegetable garden - orchard - flower beds

No matter how much you would like to treat yourself to a raspberry or strawberry for your morning tea, you should also abandon this idea. If raspberries are a rather labor-intensive crop, then strawberries are extremely labor-intensive: several times a season they grow tendrils that need to be trimmed; you will also need to place litter under the ripening berries, fertilize the plantings and add compost so that they do not freeze in the winter. You'll be tortured!

Or a relaxation garden or vegetable garden...

If you do not need to solve the food problem on the scale of one family, also abandon the idea of ​​​​a vegetable garden and greenhouse.

Having a vegetable garden is a big hassle; not only does it have to be watered and weeded. You also need to pull up carrots and beets, and hill up potatoes two or three times during the summer. And every now and then the onion is attacked by the hated onion fly. The radishes are gone long before you have time to eat them.

If you hesitate a little with harvesting, take the garlic and break it into cloves, which immediately begin to grow. And the countless number of cucumbers that grow at a frantic pace just when you are at work, and by the weekend they turn yellow and reach gigantic size?! The zucchini has to be distributed to neighbors (was it worth the effort for this?). Where to put bags of potatoes if there is no storage space in a city apartment?

With a greenhouse, life becomes even more difficult.

Well, if this is not possible, that is not possible, then what is possible, you ask? In order to fully enjoy your garden and at the same time practically not bother yourself, you need to abandon the usual model: vegetable garden - orchard - flower beds. It is in this sequence that the system of priorities has been formed since the time when personal plot was called upon to provide food for the family. Now everything is different, for homo sapiens, who works and earns money, everything is available in stores and supermarkets.

Garden rules for the lazy

Remember, its basis should be different kinds bushes and coniferous plants, requiring virtually no maintenance. The range that garden centers offer us allows us to easily create a dream garden, which will be beautiful and cozy. And at any time of the year - if you properly organize the shrub mixborder.

Shrubs, based on labor costs, can be divided into two categories: those that are, as they say, “planted and forgotten” (chokeberry, elderberry, dogwood, bladderwort, barberry, snowberry, Tatarian honeysuckle, pentapetal), and those that still require, albeit the most minimal, care in the form of pruning faded inflorescences (lilac, mock orange, various types of spirea, hydrangeas).

And you certainly shouldn’t burden yourself with planting privet, cotoneaster, and hawthorns, which require strong formative pruning.

When planning plantings, consider creating green rooms in the garden in which you can create secluded places to relax by installing a swing or a bench. It is appropriate to plant here. The same applies to children's playgrounds. Select shrubs by color to

They were combined with each other, plant them in several tiers, creating colorful compositions that are decorative throughout the season.

Cons of a lawn and advantages of paving for a low-maintenance garden

As for the lawn, its creation requires considerable effort. For busy people best option- order and lay rolled lawn. But keep in mind, you still have to take care of it. The idyllic picture from lawn mower advertisements is not always confirmed by life.

You have to cut it every week, especially in rainy summers when the grass grows back very quickly. The lawn mower cord constantly gets tangled and tends to get under the blades. The site is full of places where you can’t get to with the machine, you have to crawl on your knees with scissors. And in order for the lawn to have a neat appearance, its edges must certainly be trimmed with a special spatula. And do this more than once.

remember, that main enemy lawns - this is a dandelion.

Even if he is mowed down, he, like the Serpent Gorynych, grows two or three new heads. Therefore, before the dandelions release their white parachutes, they must be dug out with a special shovel. Are you ready for all this?

Where is the way out?

Well, first of all, paving. You should pave as many places as possible that are subject to trampling (sports and children's playgrounds, car parking and barbecue areas, areas where swings are installed, etc.). Also, do not skimp on tiles on the paths - remember that everything that is not paved will be an arena for weed control. Secondly, you can resort to filling with gravel those places where hands cannot reach - in the economic zone, for example, around barns and other small buildings.

You don’t have to bother with a real lawn, just regularly mow everything that has grown on your site with a mower. But there is a danger that as soon as the intensity of the struggle decreases (for example, when you go on vacation), your area will turn into pampas.

As an alternative to a real lawn, I can suggest a clover lawn. A good solution is to sow everything with white clover. It is not tall, creates a dense turf, does not get trampled, fertilizes itself with nitrogen, and is not afraid of frost and rain. Pink clover is not suitable for these purposes; it is much taller, which is why it often lies down.

Now, instead of being upset when you see white clover bushes in your model lawn, rejoice and continue to cultivate this beautiful plant.

Dreaming of roses

We are looking for a compromise

A special conversation about hydrangeas. Tree hydrangea and paniculata are absolutely irreplaceable plants for those who do not want to work hard, but crave beauty. They are ideally suited for acidic soils, tolerate partial shade, do not get sick, and only delight their owners with lush flowering from mid-summer, remaining decorative until frost.

Modern selection offers a wide selection of these plants. There are so many varieties - tall, medium-sized, low, with dense or openwork inflorescences, white, creamy, Pink colour, up to dark burgundy. They can be planted either as a tapeworm in a visible place, or included in a shrub mixborder. They are especially beautiful against the background of lilacs, next to white-edged derains or dark cherry vesicles. They also look great with conifers.

Regarding the numerous perennial plants, then some kind of compromise is possible here between the reluctance to strain and the desire to at least plant something.

The best choice to complement a mixborder - in our case, as you remember, a shrubby one - would be daylilies, hostas and astilbes. These plants are quite unpretentious, do not require frequent division, do not get sick, and become more and more beautiful from year to year. Especially the hosts. But you shouldn’t plant them in the open sun; you need to find a place where they will be comfortable.

But what about the plants that you have loved since childhood, from the holidays spent at your grandmother’s dacha? This refers to peonies and phlox. Some compromise is needed here. These crops require significant effort and time. But if you can’t imagine June without the lush blooming of peonies, and August without the intoxicating aroma of phlox, then the answer is clear - definitely plant, but keep in mind that you will have to work hard!

These are in general outline rules for building a low-maintenance garden in which you don’t have to strain. But I want to warn you that one fine day you may wake up thinking that it would be nice to sow dill. This will only mean one thing - you have caught the virus. The so-called gardener virus. But this disease cannot be cured, but only progresses. It may happen that soon after this you will join the ranks of garden center visitors and plant collectors. And in the end you will start a large-scale reconstruction of your once low maintenance garden.

Note: Expert advice

Mulching will save you from constant weeding. This applies mainly to flower beds. It is very effective to cover everything with chopped tree bark - no weeds will be able to break through it. To make mulch, the farm must have a garden shredder, which is used to crush branches. (But this is already work!) For the especially busy and lazy, there is nothing else to do but buy mulch at garden centers.

Flowers for beginner gardeners

With an abundance of plant species and varieties, beginning gardeners often make the wrong choice based on “aesthetics” and without taking into account the difficulties of growing certain crops. I am convinced that we need to move here from simple to complex. And you should start with plants, which are extremely unpretentious and not demanding in these matters. Otherwise, you will no longer want to waste your energy on creating flower beds, caring for which will leave no time to admire them.

Bulb crops

Let's start, perhaps, with bulbous crops, which are the first to greet spring.

Botanical tulips– unpretentious graceful plants, they not only come in many colors, but are also very easy to care for. They do not need to be dug up every year; at the same time, every year the nests grow more and more and bloom more luxuriantly. In addition, they are disease resistant. Look great in rock gardens and alpine slides.

Iris reticulum (iridodictium)– miniature plants reminiscent of iris will undoubtedly decorate your garden. Winter-hardy, can withstand light shade. They can grow in one place for up to 5 years without transplanting. IN spring garden they are one of the first to bloom.

Muscari– the bright blue inflorescences of this small-bulbous plant will very quickly grow into a “blue sky” on your site in one season. They overwinter without shelter and do not require special care. They prefer organic fertilizers, and it is better not to apply mineral fertilizers.

Perennials

From perennial beautiful flowering plants I would like to note the following cultures.

Periwinkle– its varieties are characterized by rapid growth; these plants are used for shady corners of the garden. Long shoots take root quickly; if desired, you can easily propagate by cuttings. But you need to make sure that the periwinkle does not occupy too large spaces, otherwise it will be difficult to restrain its growth in the future.

Astilbe- it's unusual flowering plant brings its own flavor to the flower garden and demonstrates how multifaceted beauty can be. Even the leaves of astilbe have an elegant openwork shape. The main thing in care is regular watering, and in all other respects it is not demanding. She has already adapted to the frosts of winter, but spring frosts can be destructive for her, so it is better to cover the bushes double layer spruce branches for this period.

Perennial cornflower- This is a plant that practically does not need to be looked after, because in nature it is a weed. There is no need to water it, as it prefers dry soils, and summer rains are enough to replenish moisture reserves. It does not like transplantation, so the seeds should be sown once and for all in one place.

Doronicum– when selecting our unpretentious plants, we probably already mentioned all the colors, but we have never had such a handsome yellow one as Doronicum. The color of the sun and the color of life are guaranteed to your flower garden with this plant. Root system It is capable of storing water, so you need to water it very carefully. If the winter is snowy, then the plant feels good without shelter. It can live in one place for quite a long time, but it will be better if the curtains are rejuvenated every 3-4 years by planting them in other places in the flower garden.

Of course, this is far from full list unpretentious crops for the garden, but for a beginning gardener, I think it is quite enough.

: Early fruiting variety walnut-...: Is it possible to grow crinum in...

Modern landscape design and gardening have been moving in a direction that can be called “back to nature” for quite some time. This is due not only to attempts to reduce the cost of care and free up more time for leisure, but also to the growing popularity healthy image life, and with care for the environment.

Photo: AiF/ Victor Tropchenko

It is no secret that, for example, in the forest and field no one takes care of the plants, but nevertheless, many of these places can compete with our gardens in beauty. What can we learn from nature? First of all, create not only decorative and useful for us, but also sustainable plant communities that require a minimum of attention.

Little is not zero!

Seeing the enticing title “Low Care Garden” will probably make even an experienced gardener slow down, not to mention beginners who believe everything. I want to disappoint you right away. A low-maintenance garden is a very popular, desired and unattainable... fairy tale! Unless, of course, it is a garden, and not a car park rolled into asphalt with a carefully thought-out place for a barbecue. If you are satisfied with this option, then the flag, or rather, a broom for sweeping asphalt, is in your hands and bon appetit! But I am sure that our reader is not like that. He just wants to minimize his physical and time costs. And this is understandable! There are usually only two days off per week, and only one vacation per year. And the mushrooms in the forest will soon grow, and the water in the lake will warm up... After all, nothing human is alien even to a gardener... Andrey Ganov, an experienced gardener

Woody instead of herbaceous

Trees and shrubs can rightfully be called the “skeleton” of any garden. They not only shape the appearance of the site, but also allow you to spend the least amount of time on maintenance. Dominant gardens woody plants, mainly coniferous species, they look good even when they stop caring for them altogether.

Mature trees and shrubs require very little time and labor: just pruning 1-2 times a year and occasional watering. It is thanks to their always good appearance and ease of care that they are so popular in European front gardens.

The range of tree crops is very extensive: you can find plants of any size and shape, with decorative foliage or beautifully flowering, deciduous or evergreen. True, the latter usually require more attention. Among them are seemingly unpretentious conifers: there are many “capricious” species and varieties that need shelter from spring sun at least in the first years after planting (many thujas, junipers, hemlocks). The most reliable of the conifers are usually the forms of Scots spruce or mountain pine.

It would seem that what could be more unpretentious than Scots pine? However, according to experience, varieties of this species selected in warmer countries in climate middle zone Russia often doesn't feel its best.

Among the shrubs there are also relatively low-growing ones that can be used as a kind of alternative to the lawn - these are spirea, stephanandra, horizontal juniper, microbiota. Over time, when they grow (or if the planting was initially dense), almost no weeds appear under them. And, of course, the traditional way to reduce weeding and watering of any plantings is to mulch the soil with loose organic materials (chopped branches, bark, fallen leaves, mown grass, etc.). But we must remember that the use of coniferous bark acidifies the soil, which not all plants like.

Photo: AiF/ Victor Tropchenko

Trouble-free way!

You often hear that a coniferous garden requires almost no maintenance. This is partly true. But I would make a small addition. Coniferous forest - yes, it does not require maintenance. Fir trees and pine trees are growing, becoming from year to year more and more like some of the Kremlin New Year's trees, and others of mast linemen. But speaking of coniferous garden, we still mean something else: a variety of varietal larches, spruces, junipers, pseudo-hemlocks and simply hemlocks... And for a low-maintenance garden, preference should be given to the slowest-growing varieties. So that we have no other concern other than admiring! Those that grow quickly require more attention to themselves: mandatory and timely annual pruning, sometimes radical. And this, believe me, goes against the idea of ​​low-income. And, of course, you should not plant conifers that are problematic for your region. For example, the popular Canadian spruce ‘Konika’, which suffers greatly from the spring sun, is simply contraindicated for the gardens of our Karelian Isthmus. Not only does it take a lot of time to annually cut out the “burnt” branches, but we usually plant it in the most visible place. And at the sight of a “beauty” with brown and blackened needles, the gardener’s mood becomes very bleak. A. Ganov

Photo: AiF/ Victor Tropchenko

Meadow instead of lawn

The lawn is a wonderful backdrop for planting, but it is extremely labor-intensive. Judge for yourself: in the spring you need to comb it out, remove old dry grass, make punctures so that the roots of the grass breathe better, mow it every week or two in the summer, water it so that there are no areas with excess or insufficient hydration(otherwise unsightly stains may appear on it), fertilize regularly... Alas, a garden carpet requires constant effort.

The search for alternatives has been going on for quite some time. A good option is to replace the lawn with a “natural meadow”. Such a meadow needs to be mowed only once or twice a season, and not weekly, like a lawn. True, after mowing it loses its decorative effect for one or two weeks until the grass grows back. But you can forgive the meadow what you don’t want to forgive the lawn: even if in some place the grass grows worse, spots appear, the color is not cheerfully green enough or the grass falls due to rain and wind - this will not spoil the almost natural community.

The meadow must be laid out specifically. An overgrown lawn cannot become one, if only because the density of planting grasses on the lawn is much higher than grasses and perennials in the meadow. The main problem that you may encounter if you want to create a real meadow is rhizomatous weeds: wheatgrass, sow thistle, and sowweed. They pose no danger on the lawn because they do not tolerate constant mowing. In the meadow, they feel very at ease and can kill cultivated plants. The only way to avoid this is to thoroughly clear the area allocated for the meadow of weed roots in advance.

There are special grass mixtures designed to create a meadow. As a rule, they consist of seeds of both annual and perennial plants: while perennial grasses develop, annuals will provide decorative value in the first season. Such mixtures can also be thematic - for example, intended for wetter or drier places, with a predominance of flowers of certain shades, or with the participation of plants attractive to bees and butterflies. Unfortunately, the range of such seeds offered by our garden centers is not yet very large.

Photo: AiF/ Victor Tropchenko

Don't create difficulties for yourself!

There is a widespread misconception among people that, they say, “I’ll plant everything with a lawn and won’t do anything else.” I'm not even talking about the fact that only a good, even, like a pool table, emerald-colored lawn. And this requires very serious effort and skills. But let's say you did it anyway. And lovingly you call him nothing more than “my English.” Let's come down to earth: in May you will be fed and mastered a new mechanism under the frightening name “verticutter”. Every Saturday in the summer there is a haircut. And so on. Attention, lovers of the “easy life” in the garden: the lawn is not for you! A. Ganov

Photo: AiF/ Victor Tropchenko

Flower garden: natural instead of traditional

In principle, a flower garden or mixborder we are accustomed to cannot be low-maintenance. To make it look beautiful, you need to constantly trim faded flowers, tie up plants, monitor their neatness and appearance. Not to mention the weeding!

New Horizons

The appearance of flower beds, which really require almost no maintenance, is associated with the advent of the “new wave” - popular in last years landscape design style. Most famous representative this direction - Dutch breeder and designer Piet Oudolf- turned an imitation of wild prairies into a trendy garden solution. Such flower beds, of course, may not appeal to lovers of bright roses and peonies, but their beauty is difficult not to appreciate.

The basic principle of the “new wave” flower beds is planting identical plants in large arrays (sometimes with individual accent inclusions of other species). It is not the beauty of each individual flower that is valued, but the overall appearance of the plant - its shape and ability to look good both in summer and winter come to the fore, because perennials in such flower beds are either not pruned at all or are pruned at the beginning of the next season. This is their main difference from traditional English mixborders, which have become the basis of flower beds in our gardens.

Adapt to natural conditions

There is no need to act against nature! The result will not be long in coming. For example, if fate has given you a semi-shaded area with a large number of trees, abundant undergrowth and the obligatory coolness of the forest, then there is probably no need to try to arrange a Versailles with a hundred or two roses or a classic English mixborder under the shade of hundred-year-old birch or pine trees. Disappointment from what you have done will come very quickly. And you will increasingly remember the parable of Sisyphus... But don’t be discouraged! You have at your disposal a huge number of shade-loving plants, which, of course, will not make Versailles, but you can get a beautiful, unique and, importantly, low-maintenance garden in all respects, where the kings of such places - rhododendrons - will feel good. Semi-shaded places are the kingdom of hostas, lungworts, buzulniks, ferns, ornamental conifers and many other, dare I say it, gorgeous plants. A. Ganov

The “new wave” flower garden does not have to look neat. The plants fell apart - and okay! After all, you can also fall apart in style, as, for example, burnets or veronicastrum do (unlike tall tulips, delphiniums and gladioli, which cannot do without a garter). And how can such grains as pike, molinia or reed grass look neat? Of course not! But it is precisely the mass of inflorescences that they grow that gives the flower garden airiness, volume, and softness of transitions between brightly flowering perennials.

Photo: AiF/ Marina Banulina

Choose carefully

Do you still insist on a traditional mixborder? Pay attention to such a parameter of decorative perennials as their growth rate. If the curtain grows by more than 5–10 cm per year (such as monarda, physostegia, yarrow, meadowsweet, many autumn-flowering asters, falaris, manna), “keeping the plant in check” will require effort. Plants that need to be divided frequently to maintain their health and decorativeness (niverberry, delphinium, bearded irises, lilies) or, conversely, those that tend to reproduce by self-sowing (sapling, rudbeckia). By planting them, you are planting future problems with your own hands! A flower garden made up of more compact perennials that rarely require division (hostas, daylilies, peonies, phlox, Siberian and Japanese irises, hellebores, cereals growing in a dense bush) will require much less effort to maintain its beauty. Surprisingly, even a ceremonial rose garden often needs less care than a flower garden of the most common unpretentious perennials. Elena Kozhina, experienced gardener

Photo: AiF/ Victor Tropchenko Should you prune your plants in the fall? What for? Miscanthus, reed grass, monarda, echinacea, veronicastrum, mullein will last well all winter, creating the volume that is so lacking winter garden. After all, an ordinary mixborder with stems cut in the fall looks like a boring plane until spring. Is it a “new wave” flower garden? It is especially beautiful after the first snowfall, when the snow has only powdered, but has not yet broken the dried grass stems.

Cleaning and pruning is carried out in the spring, when the snow has melted, but perennials and grasses have not yet begun to grow. In the climate of central Russia, this begins in mid-April. When cutting, you usually have to use a sickle or pruning shears, since the stems of many tall perennials are too stiff and simply raking them will not work. Most varietal plants do not self-sow (they are specially selected for this characteristic), so everything cut can be safely put into garden shredder and get excellent mulching material. Mulch helps reduce water evaporation, reduce the number of germinating weed seeds and, rotting, turns into excellent loose soil over time. Unlike conifer bark, crushed perennial stems do not acidify the soil.

What to give up?

If the idea of ​​low-maintenance gardening is at the forefront, then you will have to “give up” some plants. First of all, these are young perennials (there is such a slightly absurd-sounding concept!). Such plants include many varietal echinaceas (sadly), some primroses, columbine plants, snakeheads... The fact that these plants are short-lived does not mean that they will become “Persona non Grata” in your garden. You just need to remember that they will require a little more attention than “true perennials”, sometimes capable of living in one place for a hundred years: herbaceous peonies, hostas, many ferns, etc. A. Ganov Can such a flower garden be called completely maintenance-free? Certainly not. But it requires much less attention than the usual flower border. Except spring pruning, it will have to be watered in the driest months, occasionally fertilized and weeded once or twice a season, since, despite the mulch, weed seeds will still germinate.

Practical solutions

No to weeds!

No matter how hard we try to create garden compositions “once and for all” and not care for them later, there are plants that can ruin all our good endeavors. It's about about rhizomatous weeds (wheatgrass, sow thistle, bindweed and others). Before you plant anything, it is vital to clear the area completely of them. Otherwise, the “invaders” will sooner or later re-conquer the entire territory.

Of course, fighting perennial weeds is an activity that is difficult to classify as “minor garden care.” But this preparatory process is necessary.

Photo: AiF/ Victor Tropchenko

Glyphosate-based herbicides kill all plants, so crops must be protected from it. In case of accidental contact, it is better not to wash off the solution, but to cut off the affected leaves and shoots.

The ideal, but, alas, practically unavailable option for getting rid of weeds is to completely remove the plant soil and fill the entire area with compost from food waste, as is done when creating “new wave” flower beds in Europe. If it is impossible to replace the soil, to clean the area intended for planting ornamental plants, as a rule, it is necessary to use herbicides. Twice, with a 10-day break, treating the area with a glyphosate-based product (Roundup, Tornado, Hurricane Forte, Agrokiller and others) almost completely destroys the wart. The treatment is carried out in the spring, when the leaves of the tree have just begun to open; the remaining plants will have to be removed manually in the future.

Photo: AiF/ Victor Tropchenko

In addition, regular mowing of weeds at the root for one or two seasons (after digging and removing most of the rhizomes) helps. Covering the soil with cardboard and then adding a layer of soil on top is also quite effective: the borer cannot penetrate the cardboard and dies, and over time the paper decomposes and ceases to be an obstacle to the roots cultivated plants. After treatment with herbicides, you can sow the soil with green manure and then dig it up. But, alas, not a single method works one hundred percent.

Weeding - on time!

A paradoxical but true statement: in order for a garden to be easy to care for, it needs to be looked after correctly and in a timely manner. For example, one of the most hated procedures in the garden - weeding - can be minimized if done on time. The easiest time to fight weeds is in late spring and early summer, when they have already grown sufficiently, but in no case have had time to bloom and inseminate. Besides, ornamental plants should be planted densely enough so that their leaves meet and shade the ground. This also makes life very difficult for weeds. And timely mowing of not only your own lawn, but also the surrounding inconveniences will not allow weeds to inseminate. So it turns out: in order to work less in the garden, you need to work hard! A. Ganov

However, if it is planned to plant trees, shrubs and powerful tall perennials (for example, miscanthus, knotweed or saplings), then wheatgrass and wheatgrass are unlikely to harm them. Well, in shaded places, the disease can be dealt with by dense planting of pachysandra, kupena, hosta and other plants that form dense clumps.

Personal experience. Harvest without hassle

Marina Novikova, Moscow:

— I am a classic “weekend gardener.” Grandchildren and grandmother constantly live at the dacha in the summer, but looking after children and housework takes up all her time - there is absolutely no time to care for plants. But you still want your own greens, fruits and berries! So you have to get out of it in order to get the maximum return with a minimum of effort.

1. And most importantly. Don't plant too much! Calculate how much harvest you really need. The simplest example: if you really only need two dozen young carrots for summer soups and for children to nibble on, then you don’t need a whole bed of carrots, one row 1-2 m long will be enough for you. Moreover, if you still have nowhere to store root vegetables. The same applies to berry growers and orchard. It’s easier to plant a couple of trees and bushes good varieties and how to care for them (it won’t take much time!), rather than either admire the army of neglected, weakly fruiting “suffocated” ones, or spend a lot of energy on caring for them, and then “choke” on the harvest.

Photo: AiF/Elena Kozhina 2. The better the plan is drawn up, the less work itself is needed later. A rationally organized vegetable garden (compact, with convenient passages and easy access to water), thoughtful crop rotation, and timely agrotechnical operations will make dacha work as efficient as possible.

3. “Plowing” the garden beds is not valor! Anything that can make aftercare easier is greatly appreciated. For example, permanent fenced beds with paths paved, mulched, or covered with old mats or black non-woven material. Straw under strawberries. Potato and cabbage beds covered with thin white “non-fabric” allow you to forget about pests. Low crowns of fruit trees, making them easier to care for. Mulch under the bushes. Are there a lot of useful techniques?

4. What about technology? After all, it’s the 21st century, whatever one may say! There is a huge amount useful devices, allowing you to automate labor-intensive operations, and many of them are quite affordable. For example, systems drip irrigation or automatically opening windows for a greenhouse. You will be surprised how much time and effort this will save in the end!

There is little time for work, but an extra hour for rest

Why do many of us have dachas? So that you can go with your family and friends in good weather and have a pleasant rest, or to change the city environment for an ecologically clean natural landscape during the summer holidays and also indulge in blissful idleness.

However, we often fail to do this, because there are always a lot of urgent matters on the site, and if the garden is also decorative, it may require even more effort and time to care for it. And instead of the required rest, you simply have to change the type of work activity. However, things may not be so sad if you approach your gardening activities wisely.

The main thing is to properly organize your site so that it looks beautiful and does not require special care. That's why low maintenance garden- This is, first of all, a properly organized garden. All plants in it are selected and arranged in such a way as to create the illusion of a natural landscape. Naturally, with this approach, green spaces are given maximum freedom for life, and gardeners, in turn, have a lot of free time. This “a la naturel” landscape will require a lot of effort only at the creation stage, but then you will need to pay very little attention to it as needed.

Great Green Settlement

The first year of a garden’s life is especially labor-intensive: from its establishment to the beginning of winter “hibernation” of plants. Here we can highlight several important stages: marking the site into zones, selecting green spaces, their zonal placement, initial watering and fertilizing, monitoring growth and development, removing unestablished elements, autumn cleaning and temporary shelter winter cold. Undoubtedly, the most difficult step is the selection of green tenants. It must be carried out carefully, slowly and with skill, otherwise the minimum care garden risks never being born or will require too much care.

The best place to start is by creating a hedge - the sooner you plant it, the faster it will grow and obscure the work going on in your garden while the rest of the plants develop. In addition, it will well protect its more delicate counterparts from wind, dust, street noise and harmful exhaust gases, thereby creating a comfortable microclimate. Viburnum, mountain ash, lilac, mock orange, honeysuckle, and climbing species: maiden grapes, climbing rose, ivy. In addition to practical ones, they will also have aesthetic benefits - many of them bloom beautifully and smell fragrant, and rowan and viburnum will delight the eye with bright fruits.

By retreating from the fence deeper into the site, we can take care of the more delicate green inhabitants low maintenance garden- flowers. Beautiful, but capricious gladioli, tulips and hyacinths are not suitable for us; among bulbous ones, we should prefer no less attractive, but more unpretentious daffodils, crocuses, scillas, galanthus - they can live in the same place for many years, do not require weeding and feeding, and the variety of varieties allows you to admire their flowering from the very early spring until late autumn. It is worth choosing a sunny piece of land for them, since they are light-loving.

To include in the list flower crops, suitable for planting in low maintenance garden, you can also use lilies - some of their varieties do not require increased care and frequent replanting. Also suitable are lilies of the valley, irises, delphiniums, and phlox. And in order to protect yourself from weed control, the soil between the plants should be mulched.

Perennials will fit perfectly into our time- and energy-saving garden: they are beautiful, bloom most of the year, and do not require special feeding or special replanting. These are representatives of the flora such as hostas, lungwort, fern, bergenia and many, many others, because their list is quite wide.

Less work, easier worries

There are a few other tricks that will allow you to reduce energy costs when caring for your garden. For example, it is worth remembering that it is better to plant plants in groups, connecting them according to similar preferences for soil conditions, the level of its acidity, humidity levels, the degree of shading of the area, etc.

In addition, it is better to opt for varietal adapted types of flora or local green spaces. Exotics, as a rule, are too capricious and demanding, and in low maintenance garden no good.

To avoid having to level the edges of flower beds and lawns every time, it is best to line their borders decorative stone or tiles. And it looks more beautiful and neat. And if you experiment with different materials, then you can make a very original composition, which will also require only basic trimming from year to year, and not any drastic transformations.

It should also be remembered that there is no such thing as a garden without any maintenance. If you don’t devote at least a little of your time to him, then even the most correct organized site will soon turn into impassable jungle. So isn’t it better to put in just a little bit of effort - the very minimum, so that you can then enjoy a well-deserved and pleasant vacation against the backdrop of a naturally beautiful natural landscape, with the pleasure of knowing that you also had a hand in creating this beauty.