I would definitely advise less mowing and stick to keeping a strip short round the edges and then a few paths mown between areas left to grow long so you let wildflowers grow. Less work for you and better for insects, birds and other small creatures.
I too have a large garden, mostly rough grass and wild flowers at the mo as it is former pasture and with the added problem of increasing drought periods. I've been queitly collecting all sorts of different trees and shrubs to grow on and plant out and provide seasonal interest thru the year so there are evergreens with prominent flowers like rhododendron and choisya but also evergreen with incidental flower interest like this - https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/116640/Osmanthus-heterophyllus-Goshiki-(v)/Details along with deciduous shrubs that flower in spring, summer or later and some whose main interest is colourful winter stems such as cornus alba sibirica.
Spring bulbs would make low maintenance colour and then lots of ground cover perennials such as hardy geraniums and alchemilla mollis which are all easy to grow and just need an occasional cutting back to tidy them up.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Ok I couldn’t post a photo as it was too large so trying this Not as large as many garden on here I’m sure but I’m going up the length of it with this three and not panning sideways and there’s the veg section before the first pic. And about 3 or 4 seating area not shown.
Nowhere near an acre for me, not even half but it’s about 10xbigger than my previous garden and I keep loosing my tools when I start and stop jobs or potter. What plants dominate in your much larger gardens?
Isn't it funny how garden size is very relative? Plenty of scope to make it even better @Ilikeplants easy enough to deepen beds and thus have less grass to mow. I never quite understand the British standard way of putting tiny borders against a fence with a massive lawn in the middle. It's such a good wide space get it drawn on paper or on screen and make a master plan of what feel you'd like in different areas, it will give you an overarching idea of what plants to research and to have space for them when you find them. And I find it's also a good way to make a big task less intimidating and to allow for segmentation so they can be tackled when time and budget allows.
Thank you all for various suggestions, I’ll look them all up and add them to my wanted list if possible. I even like the look of the thug plants mentioned on this thread. Maybe I can let them have a section to themselves?
I have a pieris already but it hasn’t thrived so I’ll have to check on it. I like the idea of geraniums if in doubt. I guess I can use them to cover ground and then remove them easily if I need to plant something else there? I have 3 different varieties that I could spread out.
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Look at gardening as a release from work, not as another chore.
I too have a large garden, mostly rough grass and wild flowers at the mo as it is former pasture and with the added problem of increasing drought periods. I've been queitly collecting all sorts of different trees and shrubs to grow on and plant out and provide seasonal interest thru the year so there are evergreens with prominent flowers like rhododendron and choisya but also evergreen with incidental flower interest like this - https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/116640/Osmanthus-heterophyllus-Goshiki-(v)/Details along with deciduous shrubs that flower in spring, summer or later and some whose main interest is colourful winter stems such as cornus alba sibirica.
Spring bulbs would make low maintenance colour and then lots of ground cover perennials such as hardy geraniums and alchemilla mollis which are all easy to grow and just need an occasional cutting back to tidy them up.
Not as large as many garden on here I’m sure but I’m going up the length of it with this three and not panning sideways and there’s the veg section before the first pic. And about 3 or 4 seating area not shown.
Mercifully, I only go to work 2 days a week
What plants dominate in your much larger gardens?