How much maintenance does my garden need?

“Now you’re gonna have to look after it!”

This is what a good friend and fellow gardener said to me after I spent copious hours clearing the overgrown mess that was my front garden and replacing it with a new garden I could feel proud of. Since that day I have had his words ringing in my ears whenever I see even a solitary weed sneak its way into the garden.

I am constantly telling clients that you need to commit to the maintenance of a garden if you want it to become established and reach its potential. This means keeping on top on weeds; ensuring it gets enough water; fertilising and mulching; mowing lawns and pruning. It’s a little like housework insofar as if you don’t maintain it consistently it can all become overwhelming and soul destroying. If you tend your garden on a weekly or fortnightly basis you will find that most gardening sessions will be akin to wiping a cloth over a kitchen benchtop.

I can hear you out there saying “How much maintenance will my garden need?”. Like many horticultural questions, the answer is “It depends”. On television I regularly hear people in the trade boast about a low maintenance beautiful garden. This is often taken by the viewer to mean just get to it when you can. The problem with this thinking is that without consistent maintenance, weeds take over and plants become overgrown, and if you have hedges, they may become woody and lose their shape due to not being pruned earlier.

First step is to match the maintenance to the style of garden you have. If you have an ornate formal garden full of precise hedging and clean crisp lines, then you need to have a formal plan. This requires knowing your plant needs and ensuring each plant in each hedge is getting what they need. I often have a little chuckle to myself when I see one yellow English Box plant in an otherwise perfectly manicured green and healthy hedge. It’s like the plant is declaring that it will not conform to your control. Formal gardens can be very unforgiving! My advice to someone contemplating installing a formal garden is that you need to be prepared to put in the hours to keep it standing to attention! This may mean employing the services of a professional gardener if you already lead a busy life.

If you have a more relaxed informal garden, you have more wriggle room. Often a mistake can lead to an opportunity. For example, you may find that some plants are performing better than others over time in a particular garden bed creating an opportunity to rethink a more interesting and appealing planting design. I recall once talking to a client who told me that gardening is fun when things don’t go to plan and you’re forced to look for solutions.

Regardless of the garden you choose, make sure you’re fully aware of its maintenance needs, and please be realistic of how much time you can realistically spend on the garden to ensure success. Nothing hurts a gardener’s heart more than seeing their garden looking neglected and sad! Please let me know your thoughts and experiences with garden maintenance challenges!