For busy people who don’t have time to roll up their sleeves and get busy in the garden every week (or those who don’t want to!), low maintenance plants are a blessing. These plants practically raise themselves, surviving periods of drought, requiring little-to-no pruning and doing just fine without time-consuming soil alterations. Not to mention, a low maintenance plant should be relatively pest and disease-free, so that you can enjoy an abundant garden without having to worry.
I’ve listed seven low maintenance summer plants that are sure to brighten up your garden over the coming months. But first, here’s an innovative product that will make your no-garden garden even more bountiful!
Richard Jackson’s Easy Feed – one application lasts all summer
Richard Jackson is a brand that creates some really ingenious products, but this has really got me excited. Being someone who travels frequently, I like to come back home to a garden that’s thriving – not suffering in my absence. This is the ideal product for that.
This giant tub, available from QVC, contains two different types of granular feed for your plants: blue granules for quick nutrient release to help your plants establish faster, and green granules that release nutrients gradually for up to six months to keep your plants fed when they need it most.
If you’re familiar with Richard Jackson’s Flower Power and its ability to give plants a massive boost during the growing season, Easy Feed contains all of the goodness of that well-established product, but with a clever gradual release function.
If you’re new to gardening, limited on budget, busy, or just forgetful, Easy Feed is the feed for you.
…And here are the flowers that would suit an application of Easy Feed in your garden this summer!
1. Begonia
Begonias are known to be tolerant plants. They’re tolerant of shade, sun and drought, which means they can be planted almost anywhere in the garden, and will still thrive on a sporadic watering schedule (great news if there’s a hosepipe ban). Not only that, but they come in all sorts of colours, from pretty peaches to romantic reds.
2. Coneflower
Suited to a sunny pot or border, coneflowers can be left to do their thing throughout the summer. They periodically pop out eye-catching, boldly coloured blooms that will attract bees and other pollinators. Perfect for a wildlife friendly garden!
3. Lavender
Another plant suited to a sunny spot, lavender will thrive and develop into a large bush if left to grow, filling up empty spaces in the border throughout a single summer. It is a great source of nectar for bees, and if you like the smell, plant it near garden paths and seating areas for a delicious waft in the summer breeze.
4. Petunia
With large, trumpet-shaped blooms in a range of hues, petunias are a British garden favourite for their spring and summer colour and low requirement for maintenance. They’ll need a little more watering if planted in hanging baskets and other small containers, but for larger pots and borders, they’re so easy to care for.
5. Moss rose
This tough-but-pretty plant is not a rose at all, but a succulent-leaved flowering annual. Thanks to those fleshy leaves, the plant retains water well, and can go a good few days in summer without watering. It’s ideal for small gardens, as it doesn’t tend to spread – but it is toxic to cats and dogs, so be careful!
6. Coreopsis
If you know that your garden has poor soil and you don’t have the time or energy to amend it, you can still grow fantastic-looking plants like coreopsis from seed. Simply sow the seed onto the soil in spring and water regularly as the plants establish. By summer, the plants will require very little maintenance, and will often self seed to produce next year’s plants.
7. Marigolds
Marigolds might seem outdated to some, but they’re becoming trendy once again in today’s gardens! They’re one of the most drought tolerant flowering annuals, which is one reason why they’re popular in gardens across the world. Plus, they don’t need deadheading.
What are you most excited to see in your summer garden? Let me know in the comments below.
Michael has been involved with gardening and plants since he was just five years old. He is a self-professed Plant Geek, and was listed in the Sunday Times top 20 most influential people in the gardening world, thanks to his plant hunter role at Thompson & Morgan.
Michael was responsible for new plant introductions such as the Egg and Chips plant and the FuchsiaBerry and keeps busy travelling the world in search of new plants as well as lecturing worldwide, including stints in Japan. He is very active on social media – so why not give him a follow at @mr_plantgeek or Facebook – and writes a plant-focused Substack called Grow This, Not That.
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