Low Maintenance Plants for Seniors and Busy Homeowners

Regina Brennan, Master Gardener

One of the main things that many seniors and younger homeowners have in common is the desire to have a well-cared- for landscape around their home. Another shared desire is to have a low maintenance garden, but for different reasons.

For seniors, heavy garden chores begin to lose their appeal when health concerns arise and energy seems to be an elusive commodity. The desire to get out and enjoy fresh air and the smells of good soil and fragrant blooms does not wane with age. Nothing quiets the soul and the mind better than sunshine and fresh air in a quiet and peaceful garden.

As a senior gardener, I look back, sometimes wistfully, at the strength and energy I once hand, seemingly just yesterday. I tend to forget that it is also a challenge to have youth, strength, and energy, but very limited time to do what needs to be done to maintain a desirable landscape. I suspect that a common desire of both older and younger gardeners would be to have a trusted landscape professional do the planning, planting, and maintenance of our ideal landscape. Alas, most of us realize that this usually does not happen.

In previous blogs, several writers have emphasized the need to plan out a garden, including a makeover if needed, to upgrade our garden specimens to be drought tolerant and low maintenance with native plants as much as practical. This holds true for all, given the status of climate change, lack of rainfall, and lack of time.

One of the challenges of modern society is obtaining and maintaining balance. If a person has a long commute, a family to feed, and quality time to spend with spouse and children, there is precious time left for such things as mowing, pruning, deadheading, weed pulling, and the myriad of tasks necessary to keep a neighbor from reporting us to the homeowner's association for not keeping up our yard!

A common frustration is the challenge of actually finding a specimen that is highlighted in a newspaper article or magazine. I have found myself excited several times over a beautiful new plant only to discover it is still in the trial stage, and not available, or totally not suited to our climate zone. As stated before, your best bet is to go in person to a well stocked nursery and bring information about your space, shade, soil, and desired size at maturity.

When reviewing the availability of plants that I had researched and wanted to recommend, I had mixed success. I was very disappointed to find old, root bound stock that was stunted and looking like it was on life support. Although I am not at liberty to recommend one nursery over another, I highly recommend you visit more than one if you are having trouble finding what you are looking for. Stockton, Lodi, and other cities in our County are fortunate to have several excellent garden centers with well trained staff who are happy to be of assistance.

Lantana, with its many color choices, is a reliable easy maintenance shrub for our area. There are low growing specimens, from ground cover to larger multi-colored shrubs two to three feet high.

Pittosporum is another true performer, with many choices from compact to 12 feet tall. Many varieties have interesting leaves and variegated foliage. Be sure to check the dimensions at maturity before choosing.

Euonymus has both evergreen and deciduous shrubs. Deciduous types are valued for fall leaf color or showy fruit. Evergreen types are used mainly for background plants and hedges. Variegated forms work well as an accent plant, especially striking in the fall.

Low maintenance attractive shrubs can be made to really stand out with a variety of low growing colorful perennials in the foreground. I found several very attractive choices in a few of the garden centers that looked robust, but not all choices were in all of the centers.

Again, I encourage you to go in person to your local nursery and also to take a road trip to some of the places outside of the city limits to explore their offerings. Some of the plants I would recommend based on appearance and tag description were few in number. Remember, not only does the early bird get the worm, but the early shoppers can often get the best plants with the widest selection. Enjoy the adventure and remember to keep the goal in mind: drought resistant, low maintenance, and grown for our climate zone.