Sometimes gardening can be a bit of a pain when you choose plants that require a lot of attention. However, if you still want a beautiful garden but don’t want to commit to a lot of work then you might go for some low maintenance garden pots. 

What are low maintenance garden pots?

Quite simply, low maintenance garden pots are containers that do not need anything more than feeding and watering. Surprisingly, bigger pots are actually less work than smaller ones. This is because smaller pots dry out more quickly so you will need to water them more often whereas a large pot could go a week without any attention. 

What are the benefits of low maintenance garden pots?

Low maintenance garden pots are so popular because of how easy they are to care for. If you want to go on holiday for a week without bothering your neighbours to water your plants, then larger pots or containers will do just fine in your absence. 

They are also great for people who have a busy lifestyle and don’t have the time to dedicate to demanding plants. You can still have a beautiful garden without the need to spend the little free time you have worrying about plant care. 

What’s more, there are so many different plants to choose from so you are still free to adorn your garden and show off your personality. If you live in a rented home, you can take the plants with you when you go. 

Additionally, if you aren’t the most experienced gardener, planting in containers is far easier than trying to grow plants in the ground so you’ll be able to take better care of your plants without killing them. Who said you had to be green fingered to be a successful gardener? 

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And, of course, there are many gardeners out there who want a nice-looking garden but don’t have the inclination to actually spend much time pottering around. For gardeners who don’t really enjoy gardening all that much low maintenance pots are ideal.

What can you plant?

When it comes to choosing the right plants for your low maintenance pots, you aren’t short on options. However, you will need to think about things like location. For example, if your patio receives full sun all day every day, then choosing plants that like a shady spot isn’t going to end very well. 

Festuca and aeonium are excellent choices for low maintenance pots and once you have planted them, they won’t need any other care apart from watering. Even if you forget or are away, these are very tolerant to drought so won’t suffer too much. 

Box plants are ideal for low maintenance pots as they only require weekly watering and fortnightly feeding. You will need to remove them from the pot around once every two years to trim the roots but this is a half an hour job every 24 months, so it isn’t time consuming. 

Any type of succulent is typically a great low maintenance plant as you will only need to water once a fortnight. That said, you will need to make sure that the soil is well drained so choose pots with lots of drainage and put them on feet. 

If you want an evergreen plant for your patio then camellias (above) are an excellent addition. They are very low maintenance provided you find the right spot for them. Make sure you use ericaceous compost and keep the plant sheltered and you should find that you really don’t have to do much else.

Looking after your pots 

It’s a good idea to keep a diary of when you have fed and watered your plants so you know when they’ll next need your attention. There are tons of smartphone apps you can use for this but a good old notebook and pen is just as effective. 

If you want to really cut down how much work you’ll do then you could add a slow-release plant food into the soil. This will minimise how often you need to feed the plants and ensure that they always have a good food supply. In some cases, you might not need to feed the plant for six months. 

There are also products that help to control moisture which you can add to the soil. Some claim to reduce the need for watering by up to 75% although this will vary between products and plants so do still keep an eye on the moisture levels of the soil and water accordingly.

Enjoy your garden with the minimum of fuss 

If you have a busy life and not a lot of time to tend to plants but still want a blooming beautiful garden then all is not lost. Low maintenance garden pots allow you to have the best of both worlds. Choose the right location for your plants and you’ll find that they pretty much take care of themselves, all you need to worry about is feeding and watering them.