Top 7 Low Maintenance Garden Plants

1. Agapanthus — Low Maintenance Garden Plants

Agapanthus are strappy leaved bulbs with a robust, drought-hardy nature. Their long stately flower stems produce large, showy flower heads in summer. While pink and white colors are available, they are best known for their blue shades, ranging from light to very dark blue. New varieties such as ‘Queen Mum’ (blue and white) and ‘Black Pantha’ (dark purple) flower prolifically, and they look impressive at the back of smaller border plants.

Suitable for all but the coldest zones, where their roots may freeze in winter.

Maintenance Requirements: Very low. 

Agapanthus thrives with little water, rainfall usually sating their needs. Fertilizer is generally unnecessary, and little bothers them in the way of pests or diseases. After a few years, you may need to divide the clumps of bulbs.

2. Catmint and Catnip

Recommended by your cats, these two herbs are almost identical by sight. With blue-grey leaves forming low rounded bushes, both plants produce small blue flowers from spring through to autumn before dying down in winter. They look fantastic gently jutting out over paths; they are great for attracting bees, and your cats will love them as well. 

Maintenance Requirements: Very low. 

Once established, these plants require little water. They will easily grow in most climate zones and soil types, and don’t require fertilizer. As they retain their rounded shape well, they don’t usually need cutting back.

3. Climbing Vine — Star Jasmine

Also known as the potato vine, Star jasmine is a vigorous, quick-growing climbing vine. It has attractive glossy green leaves with highly scented flowers during spring and early summer. Grow it over lattice, fences, pergolas, or any significant garden structure. Its quick, dense growth makes it ideal for hiding objects such as unappealing fencing. 

Star Jasmine is best grown in temperate climate zones and grows in both sun and part-shade. You get more flowers in a full sun situation, however. Star jasmine is cold-hardy and heat-hardy, barring temperature extremes. 

Maintenance Requirements: Low.

Star Jasmine requires little care once established. Water if it’s looking droopy or experiencing a very dry spell. In temperate climates, rainfall usually suffices, and fertilizer is generally unnecessary.

4. Lavender

Lavender is a small attractive shrub that straddles the culinary, fragrance, and floral worlds. English, French, and Spanish varieties sport different leaf and flower bract colors. They are long-lived perennials with extensive and repeat-flowering periods through early spring through to early winter. Their long stems hold numerous spikes of flower clusters, including the ever-popular blue and blue-purple shades. While other colors are available in green, white, and pink, blue and purple are still the most popular. 

Their highly scented flowers are readily picked from the home garden and used in scented sachets and sleep pillows by crafters. In the garden, their flowers attract bees. Use in the middle of garden beds or clumps throughout the garden. 

Maintenance Requirements: Low.

Once established, little watering is necessary. It will easily grow in most climate zones and soil types and thrive year after year without fertilizing. However, some varieties can sprawl, requiring a cut-back now and then.

5. Ornamental Grasses - Bamboo

Yes, bamboo is a type of grass. And there are many beautiful clumping varieties suitable for the home garden. Their tall stems and decorative strappy leaves rustle with the lightest of winds and provide an elegant backdrop to garden areas. With their quick growth habit, bamboo makes great privacy screens or feature plants. Bamboo heights range from dwarf plants of 3 m to giants at 20m.

While some varieties of bamboo require regular watering, others are quite drought tolerant. A popular variety is Seabreeze, which is both cold-hardy and drought-tolerant. Other dry-hardy types include Bambu Batu, Golden, and Mexican Weeping bamboos. 

Maintenance Requirements: Low.

Drought-tolerant varieties require little watering once established. They may require thinning after some years. Buy clumping varieties only as the running varieties are invasive.

6. Succulents — The Best Low Maintenance Perennials

Succulents have risen greatly in popularity in recent years. Miniature, brightly colored species are commonly grown as indoor plants. The worth of succulents as architectural statements in the garden has also become more widely appreciated. These drought-tolerant, fleshy, water-gorged plants come in a remarkable variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. 

A species that is both cold-hardy and drought-hardy is Sempervivum, also known as Hens and Chicks. They are a hardy ground cover, which multiplies readily by growing clusters of new plants around a central point. 

Maintenance Requirements:  Very low.

Simply cut back if their growth sprawls beyond where you want it.

7. Blueberries — Colorful and Edible

Dwarf varieties of blueberries used in plant borders add color and interest. You get highly ornamental bunches of blueberries in summer and autumn, not to mention the joy of eating them. Deciduous varieties are part of the autumn color landscape, their leaves changing to red at this time. 

Plant them to get full sun (at least six hours of direct sunlight each day during the growing season. They also require acidic soil. As a rule of thumb, if you can grow azaleas, you can grow blueberries. Dwarf varieties include Northland, Sunshine Blue, and Top Hat.

Maintenance Requirements: Low.

Once established, they are not generally thirsty plants but up the water a bit when the berries are developing to get them plump and juicy. They don’t sprawl like raspberries or become invasive. Just make sure to get a suitable variety for your climate zone.