Gardening 101 : How to Establish a Low Maintenance Backyard Garden

If this is your first forage into gardening, then stay put! This article is just for you!

Creating a beautiful backyard garden that will be the envy of your neighbors requires you to remember just one word: Simplicity.

Diving headfirst into a garden that will require constant time and attention usually has disastrous results. Cultivating a garden that can be enjoyed without constant maintenance, however, will likely be a success. The three key points to remember when mapping out your garden is to stick with native plants, use organic materials whenever possible, and use low-maintenance, low-water plants.

Go Native

Native plants are your best friend when dealing with a backyard garden. Native plants have many advantages over tropical or exotic plants. Because they are native to the area they will thrive without much care and attention. They are also more likely to attract birds, beneficial insects and butterflies, all of which provide a lovely addition to your garden.

Native plants are generally hardy and are easy to grow. If you are stumped on which native plants to integrate into your garden, you can simply take a walk around your neighborhood or your local garden center for ideas and inspiration.

A horticulturalist at your local nursery or garden center will also be able to make recommendations regarding native plants.

Go Organic

Use organic materials, such as compost and fertilizers, whenever possible in your backyard garden. Although some synthetic fertilizers are safe and beneficial for your garden, many are not. So instead of taking a crash course in synthetic lawn and garden chemicals, simply choose organic materials instead.

Organic fertilizers are friendly to the soil, the wildlife, your children and the local water system. They are often just as effective as synthetic fertilizers yet don’t carry the dangers of their synthetic counterparts.

Now is also a great time to start a compost pile so that you can become self sufficient and provide lots of rich, organic fertilizer for your plants and flowers.

Go Low-Maintenance

If dragging out the house every day to water your backyard garden doesn’t sound like all that much fun, then you will likely benefit from a low-water garden. Low-water gardens, which are also referred to as xeriscapes, use a variety of plants and flowers that require very little to no supplemental water.

Low-water gardens not only save you time from watering, but they also save your budget from high water bills. These gardens are also environmentally sensitive, as well, as they conserve water.

If you have plants in your garden that require supplemental watering, you may want to consider drip irrigation. Drip irrigation consists of hoses with small holes which deliver water to the roots of the plants in a slow fashion.

Drip irrigation is an extremely efficient way to water, as there is almost no waste of water from run-off. It is also beneficial to the plant, as it delivers water directly to its root system for immediate absorption.

Drip irrigation also uses much less water than standard irrigation, making it an environmentally sensitive choice for gardens.