Your favorite low maintenance plants

[ChanellG]

My other half has suddenly discovered (or perhaps rediscovered) the joy of surrounding yourself with growing things. He rescued two shrubs from the curb a couple months ago and immediately started bugging me about a garden. I have been trying to get him to understand just how much work it is maintaining plants and keeping them , but the yard is slowly filling up with edibles and ornamentals.

I'm not around everyday to keep an eye on the plants so I am looking for low maintenance (like cast the iron plant) flowering and non-flowering, as well as colorful variegated plants to mix and match and make the "yard" ( a small, fenced-in, cement-paved area) look nicer.

The yard is partly walled-in by wood and corrugated metal fencing on one side and, and on the other side, a chain link fence separates it from the neighbor next door. Speaking of the other yard, there's a new dog and now the yard smells rather unpleasant, so we are also looking for fragrant plants. It also gets pretty hot here in summer.

Any suggestions? What are your favorites? Remember, nothing too delicate.

 

[gata montes]

I have so many favorites when it comes to low maintenance plants that it would be hard to name just a few and especially ones that would best suit your situation - as even though there are literally hundreds and hundreds of low maintenance plants to choose from - it is a little difficult to know which ones to suggest - without first knowing a bit more about your garden and climate - like for instance how much sun does your garden get - do you have a lot of rain or high humidity and as it is not just the summer that the plants need to withstand but also the winter - what kind of winters do you have ?

 

[firelily99]

So many plants available, so little space! Where do you live - what is your zone? Hydrangea, peonies, dianthus, and crane's bill are nice flowering plants. Shrubs or trees like lilac and junipers are very durable and low maintenance.

 

[lemonzest]

Geraniums are the best thing ever.

They're nice looking plants on their own, plus they have big showy and abundant flowers. Low maintenance and practically unkillable but not invasive. There are loads of varieties, so there's a nice selection of leaf types and flower colors too.

And you can even divide them as they grow over the years as well (I haven't really tried that properly, though).

 

[claudine]

I think that forsythia would be a great choice. It looks really beautiful and it's very easy to grow. Just prune it once a year and you'll see billions of small, yellow flowers. Unfortunately, they aren't fragrant.
If you want something that smells beautifully, maybe choose lilac? Recently, I heard that it's possible to grow it in a warm climate.

 

[ChanellG]

@claudine, that forsythia has definite possibilities! It's hardy through zone 9, so it's certainly doable. It can get rather large, but that would give me an excuse to prune it regularly, which would yield cut flowers to bring indoors. I might look into the lilac. Where he's living now there's a melia azedarach (AKA China ball) tree, also known as Persian lilac. The tree is a pain when the berries come in, but the flowers are very fragrant.

 

[ChanellG]

Geraniums are the best thing ever...

And you can even divide them as they grow over the years as well (I haven't really tried that properly, though).

Geraniums are definitely on my list. I was supposed to divide my mother's geraniums last year, but I was afraid to risk harming them. If I recall, geraniums are one of the plants that help repel mosquitoes. I successfully divided one of my agapanthus lilies. I can't wait to see them bloom this year, I got them late last year and never saw any flowers.

 

[ChanellG]

@gata montes, sun is definitely an issue. We just had a rough winter and now spring seems to be having trouble getting off the ground. Rain storms have been beating up the plants the last few weeks, and when it is sunny out, the plants mostly get indirect light. Yet, I think it might be too sunny for shade loving plants.

 

[Trellum]

My favorite low maintenance plants are succulents, I like them because they are so easy to take care of and not once I have ever seen pests invading my succulents! They are so easy to take care of in that sense as well; it seems the less attention you pay to them the better they grow!

 

[happyflowerlady]

I think that some of the flowering vines are pretty easy to care for. I have trumpet vine and honeysuckle, and both of those come back every year, and the honeysuckle is quite fragrant.
Morning Glory doesn't smell a lot, and it is not perennial, but it does tend to reseed itself; so there is a good chance that it will come back year after year.
One of my most favorite vines is called the Moonflower Vine. The leaves are heart shaped, and the huge flowers are a luminous pearly white color, and it has a delicate (but wonderful) fragrance. It opens up in the evening, so you can enjoy it along the porch or fence line when sitting outside during the evening.

 

[claudine]

@claudine, that forsythia has definite possibilities! It's hardy through zone 9, so it's certainly doable. It can get rather large, but that would give me an excuse to prune it regularly, which would yield cut flowers to bring indoors. I might look into the lilac. Where he's living now there's a melia azedarach (AKA China ball) tree, also known as Persian lilac. The tree is a pain when the berries come in, but the flowers are very fragrant.

My parents planted a few forsythias in their garden around three years ago and they're still rather small. We once had a large forsythia, but it was a very old shrub. Anyway, the more you prune it, the better, it will produce more flowers
The best thing about forsythia is that you can cut a few branches in late winter or very early spring, bring them home, put them in water and they'll bloom I always do this when I really miss spring
As for Persian lilac, I've never seen it in person, but I've just googled it and it doesn't look like the lilac I know.

 

[lemonzest]

Geraniums are definitely on my list. I was supposed to divide my mother's geraniums last year, but I was afraid to risk harming them. If I recall, geraniums are one of the plants that help repel mosquitoes. I successfully divided one of my agapanthus lilies. I can't wait to see them bloom this year, I got them late last year and never saw any flowers.

Yeah, I've heard that about geraniums. Might even be true, my brother's place has them on the terrace and it is much better mosquito-wise there in summer than elsewhere in the house.

I used to have some agapanthus lilies (thanks for that, I didn't know their proper name before) at my old place and they were very sturdy as well, the soil there was pretty sandy but they seemed to thrive.

 

[Abigail]

Not much of a plant expert quite yet, but I know when it comes to indoor plants, spider plants are pretty easy and they get big, look pretty.

 

[ChanellG]

My favorite low maintenance plants are succulents, I like them because they are so easy to take care of and not once I have ever seen pests invading my succulents! They are so easy to take care of in that sense as well; it seems the less attention you pay to them the better they grow!

I love succulents! I want to create a dish garden of succulents indoors, or maybe a small terrarium. I have chicks and hens and also aloe vera; he just got an aloe on a recent trip to Lowes. We were walking back to the car this morning after his 10k run, and I pointed out the cast iron plant growing around the base of a tree. I told him even he can't kill that one!

 

[ChanellG]

Not much of a plant expert quite yet, but I know when it comes to indoor plants, spider plants are pretty easy and they get big, look pretty.

I have a spider plant at home; it started out as a teeny "spider" I got from my mom. Her plant has since perished, but mine is flourishing and making more babies. Spiders are easy to grow and it's shady enough I think in his yard to have one outside. I think he and the kid would both get a kick out of watching a spider plant grow.