15 Easy-Going Plants That Practically Grow Themselves For the Ultimate Low Maintenance Garden
Put your feet up and your trowel down: all these glorious plants are ridiculously easy to grow and bring maximum reward for minimal effort.
If only everything in life was this easy! Gardening doesn't need to be difficult or time-consuming, and you'll have to try far harder to kill these plants than you will to keep them alive. So if you're a beginner gardener, they're a great spot to start. Or, if you're a lazy gardener who likes a low maintenance garden like me, then they'll ensure you spend just as much of your backyard time on your outdoor sofa, glass in hand, as you do tending to borders.
Don't think that you need to compromise on looks if you want a low maintenance backyard, either. All these plants are glorious additions to any garden and I'd grow each and every one of them even if they took treble the time to tend. Some produce bounteous blooms, others bring standout structure – so why choose high maintenance plants when the low maintenance plants are this lovely? Ditch those demanding garden divas and grow a drought tolerant dreamboat instead!
Some of these plants need very little watering or pruning, others flower effortlessly for months, and a few faithful favorites simply return year in, year out, with zero assistance from you. So get ready for a relaxing summer in a ravishing garden: there are enough easy wins here to fill a whole backyard.
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Nigella damascena is so easy to grow from seed and although it's an annual it'll self-seed and be back next year. The jewel tones of the 20-inch-tall flowers of this cultivar so pretty, but just wait till you see the stunning seedpods that bring fabulous structure. Zones 4–9.
Rosa 'TEXmourug' has lavender blooms, the petals a creamy white on the reverse, from spring through fall, with a lovely fresh fragrance. Its disease resistance means it's a breeze to care for and, though it grows to nine feet, it never needs pruning – hurrah! Zones 5–9.
As it's name suggests, this easy-care perennial beauty peaks in late summer to fall. Also known as windflower, the flowers dance atop 3-foot-high wiry stems and reliably return year after year. It's adored by butterflies but happily avoided by deer, rabbits and pests. Zones 4–8.
Perennial Hemerocallis are renowned for their easy-going nature and drought-tolerance, and this cultivar brings even more rewards than most, blooming for longer than any other variety from late spring to late summer. It'll naturalize and gently spread, too. Zones 3–9.
Perovskia atriplicifolia thrives in arid climates and is drought- and heat-tolerant and isn't bothered by deer or pests. This vigorous perennial blooms abundantly in late summer, and the 3-foot-high stems can be left standing all winter for striking structure. Zones 4–9.
Plant this hard-working perennial not just for its months of pincushion blooms from late spring to fall but for the butterflies it brings to your garden. It stays in an 18-inch-high mound and all you need do is deadhead to keep those pretty flowers coming. Zones 4–9.
This quirky perennial is the easiest plant of all to grow! It forms a slowly spreading mat just 4 inches tall that adds fabulous texture to a patch of gravel, or let it spill from a container or over a wall. It's extremely drought-tolerant and leaves turn a lovely orange tone in fall. Zones 3–11.
Perennial asters are extremely drought-tolerant and bring valuable fall color, but most have a sprawling, untidy habit – not this one though! It's a compact cultivar with a mounding habit and masses of flowers on 18-inch-high stems until the first frost. Zones 4–8.
Cosmos bipinnatus is a super-easy annual to grow from seed, and much loved by bees and hummingbirds. This cultivar has abundant ombré blooms in pale pinks and whites atop 4-foot stems in so many forms, it looks like you're growing multiple varieties. Zones 2–10.
Rosa 'Meijocos' has a remarkably long flowering season from April to November, and its peach blooms are far bigger than you'd expect from a 2-foot-high shrub. It's adaptable so you can even grow it in a hanging basket, and is incredibly resistant to disease. Zones 4–11.
This perennial Kniphofia cultivar grows to a petite 2-feet high and, unlike many of its cousins, isn't invasive. It has the same survivor instinct though, and is heat-tolerant and drought- and deer-resistant, with evergreen foliage and months of orange flower spikes. Zones 6–9.
While we're looking at knockout color, how about this stunner? The prolific pink flowers on maroon stems keep on coming from early summer to the first frost and are a magnet for pollinators. It doesn't need deadheading and is drought- and heat-tolerant. Zones 5–9.
In the most beautiful of blue hues, this drought-tolerant annual Centaurea cyanus has double blooms for extra ruffles. It's simple to sow direct and you'll have flowers in 10-or-so weeks. With stems up to 2 feet high, you can pretty up a salad with its edible petals, too. Zones 2–10.
Carex is a useful plant for containers and groundcover in a shady spot as its evergreen foot-high fountain of foliage starts a lovely lime green and gradually turns golden to light up the area. It doesn't need pruning and is deer and rabbit resistant. Zones 6–8.
No list of low-maintenance plants would be complete with this perennial hardy geranium that brings 20-inch-high blooms all summer for zero effort. It'll work its way around other plants in a border and the foliage is as pretty as the flowers, turning red in fall. Zones 5–9.
