Best Low-Maintenance Plants for Busy Gardeners

[Juliana]

Hey everyone!
Life has been hectic lately, but I still want to keep my garden thriving without spending hours on maintenance. Do you have any favorite low-maintenance plants that look great but don’t require constant attention?
I’m thinking about drought-tolerant plants like lavender or succulents, but I’d love to hear your recommendations! Bonus points if they attract pollinators.
What are your go-to easy-care plants?

 

[Meadowlark]

Kind of difficult for a Texan to recommend a "best" for UK garden...but I'll offer some thoughts anyway.

Some low maintenance plants here that seem like good candidates for UK also:

1) Azaleas. They come in all sizes and colors, are beautiful in spring, and very low maintenance here.

2) Day lilies: Very low maintenance, colorful, and long lasting. I have some from my Grandmother's homestead that date back a century...never a problem.

3) Gardenias: Enjoyable plants that provide a lot of aroma to your property

4) Hydrangeas: Come in several different varieties. We have an Oak leaf hydrangea that has provided great color for many years without any maintenance.

5) Clematis: rapid grower with tendency to climb and cover structures. Very low maintenance.

These suggestions are ones we grow that are very low maintenance. Check 'em out for your area.

 

[redback]

I'm from Australia but we grow lots of drought tolerant exotics here.
Try -
artemisia a hardy perennial 'blue' bush.
hollyhock a hardy version of the flowery spike.
plumbago - purple flowering shrub
There are so many more- look up You Tube - drought tolerant plants for your area.

 

[cpp gardener]

Depends on what part of the UK you’re in. London, Manchester, Penzance, Aberdeen, Surrey?

 

[Bamboozled]

I'm big on bamboo as I like how they look and how easy they are to propagate. From a couple plants a friend gave me years ago, I now have over 40 in 15 gallon pots. They usually top out at 6'-7' but a few are ten footers. Easy to maintain, I don't even fertilize.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Shrubs and climbers both tend to look after themselves most of the time, you can have flowers, foliage, scented, subtle or showy. careful you don't choose the ones that are going to grow huge and overwhelm. Cotoneaster is one of my favourites, it comes in horizontal or vertical forms and has a nice little flower insects love. Clematis comes in many forms, from large, showy single flowers to masses of small flowers, well worth looking at a few if you have a good fence for them to climb. If you are on acidic ground rhododendron and azalea are good, not usually scented or attractive to insects particularly, but some are quite spectacular.