Design a Low-Maintenance Small Garden with These 11 Ideas (2024)

A low-maintenance small garden design can give you a rewarding and relaxing outdoor retreat with less hassle and expense. Whether you’re working with an urban backyard or a rural slice of heaven, there are several strategies for creating a beautiful garden in a small space that won’t require a ton of work to maintain. Use the following ideas for choosing the best plants and techniques to design a low-maintenance small garden that’s perfect for your space.

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Keep It Simple

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It may be tempting to pack in lots of plants, outdoor furniture, and garden art into a small space. However, a more simplistic approach to garden accessories, hardscaping, and plant choices often ends up being far less time-consuming to maintain. Focus on less, not more, to create a serene space.

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Plant Perennials and Shrubs

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Garden centers are filled with beautiful annual flowers in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Before you buy, consider that most annuals need to be replanted each spring, which adds expense and time planning, purchasing, and planting annuals. Instead, opt for compact perennials and long-lived shrubs to design a more low-maintenance small garden. These types of plants cost a bit more upfront but save hundreds over the long run.

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Nix the Lawn

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Even a small lawn requires weekly mowing, regular fertilizing, and frequent watering. Consider replacing any lawn in your low-maintenance small garden design with easy-care small trees, shrubs, and perennials for a livelier aesthetic. If you prefer the open space a lawn provides, choose lower-maintenance alternatives like planting a clover lawn.

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Try a Gravel Garden

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Unlike rock gardens that can look somewhat barren while still being energy-intensive to maintain, gravel gardens can be lush and full of life. By design, gravel gardens are constructed by amending the native soil and adding 5-6 inches of gravel above. Perennials, bulbs, and seeds are embedded in the soil below and grow up through the gravel, providing a barrier for weeds while still allowing water to reach the soil below.

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Limit Containers

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Containers can be a handy solution if you lack planting space in your small garden. However, growing plants in pots often requires additional effort to keep them watered and fed enough to thrive throughout the growing season. Instead of loading up your small garden with pots, stick to just one or two large accent planters. Make sure the containers are not clay; they dry out soil quickly, so you need to water often.

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Go Native

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Native species have evolved in their local region for thousands of years, which means these tough plants can take whatever the climate throws at them throughout the year. In contrast, non-native plants usually need extra help to survive, whether it be additional watering or protection from wind, cold, and heat. Native plants will also benefit local wildlife such as pollinators.

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Embrace a Naturalistic Look

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Manicured English and French gardens are appealing with their clean-cut lines and elegant look, but these garden styles can be a maintenance nightmare. For a low-maintenance small garden design, go for a naturalistic effect instead, such as creating a mini meadow around a seating area. Just let your plants fill their spaces as they would in the wild.

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Fill the Border Garden

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Border gardens encircle, outline, and define spaces in landscapes large and small while adding tons of color and texture. Fill your borders with low-maintenance perennials and small shrubs to create a comfortable and easy-care small garden. Full garden beds have the added benefit of blocking out weeds, so you can spend less time weeding.

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Be Water-Wise

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Being conscious of water use is important in much of the country and essential in arid regions such as the Southwest. To minimize water use and related maintenance, select drought-tolerant plants that do well in your local climate. Use water features like ponds and fountains sparingly, as they can be expensive, require maintenance throughout the year, and need to be filled regularly.

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Create an Outdoor Seating Area

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Make the most of your small garden by adding a sitting area. Repurposed bricks, second-hand or DIY outdoor furniture, and a small table will enhance the space and can easily be expanded upon if more room is needed later on. Creating a brick surface for your seating area will cut down on weeds, reduce water use, and last for many years with very little upkeep.

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Mulch Open Spaces

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To reduce weeding, cover any bare ground in your small garden with a thick layer of mulch. Depending on the type of mulch you choose, it can last for several years while helping to create an intentional and clean look in your low-maintenance small garden design. Mulch also helps the soil hold water, so you don't have to water as often.