Low maintenance landscaping around the house?

Question

ARE THERE ANY LANDSCAPERS OUT THERE? My mother is 75 yrs old. Her house it 54 x 26. We would like to plant perrenials around the house that are low maintenance. The flower perimeter around the house is approx. 2 ft. However, a screened in porch was added to the existing house. On each side of the porch is a island look that has about a 10-12 ft perimeter. This perimeter then blends back into the 2 ft perimeter. We had thought about planting tiger lilys close together all around the house. It would look like a clover of lilys all around her house. Her house is brown and we thought the orange would stand out against the brown. However, we are not sure what to put where the 10-12 ft perimeters are. I know we could plant more tiger lilys where the perimeter are 10-12 ft but was not sure if this is what we should do. Would appreciate any suggestions. Do not want to have to weed if possible.

Answer 1

As far as the perennials go, there are literally hundreds of choices, I would try to work out a color scheme and go from there.

Since you already mention tiger lilys I would probably go with a red-orange-yellow-white idea. Just keep varying the textures of the plants while keeping in the color scheme and you'll have  very nice looking beds. Hint - Stella D'oro lilys might be a good yellow choice. You could also mix in some perennial grasses or ground cover to add foliage texture without adding flowers.

For the larger beds, if you don't want to use all perennials, use the typical low maintenance evergreen "foundation" plants. Some possibilities include most junipers, japanese holly, boxwood, laurel and others. For flowering shrubs, you could use rhododendrons or azaleas. You'd have to find out what varieties are available in your area to see which will be the most "low-maintenance" and fit in with the rest of landscaping.

Also keep in mind the amount of sun the plants will receive. Visit a local nursery and ask around. I'm sure they will be able to give you the best recommendations for your area.

To eliminate weeding - or at least keep it to a minimum - use weed barrier fabric on the beds, then cover it with about 3-4 inches of mulch. Do this before planting the beds. Just slice through the fabric to install the new plants.

Answer 2

if u dont want to weed make sure u put down black landscape plastic and mulch before u plant it will keep out the weeds.for the 10 ft spaces i would put in some evergreen type bushes-no real maintenance to them

Answer 3

To keep weeds to a minimum a few slow growing bushes like azaleas (white, red, purple,pink) evergreen variety and you could fill spaces with pachysandra an evergreen ground cover.  Also gerbera daisies are easy and colorful and can be used as cut flowers.

Answer 4

Tiger lilys sound lovely, you can also add carpet roses or dahlia's. They come in burnt orange, yellow and red which would look great against your mother's brown house.

Good luck.