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Low Maintenance - is it a misnomer

Dilip_UKDilip_UK Posts: 114
in The potting shed
Being relatively new to taking on gardening as a hobby (started about a year ago). I have come to the conclusion, there is no such thing as low maintenance gardening. I don't have a wide scope, I am a container gardener mainly. Although just ventured planting in the ground recently.

Considering we live in a seasonal environment. The plant care changes constantly, different tasks dependent on spring, summer autumn or winter. Also if the plant is in germination, young or mature the needs are different. The need to deal with growth issues, disease and maintenance is vital. Situational awareness and the environmental factors are very important. Also the need for planning, especially in the winter is so important. All these factors didn't really occur to me when I started this lovely journey. 

Now that I have caught the gardening bug, the research and plant selection is almost a numbing task for me. Choosing the right variety best suited to the plant is not ease, requires good knowledge in the wider context.  The amazing knowledge and expertise I see here in amazing, it could not have been acquired through low maintenance gardening. 

So this novice gardener has realised, a hobby maybe but the need to provide loving care is constant and more than simply a pass-time. So here I am providing care, love and passion to my hobby, it is nothing like low maintenance as I originally thought. I do love it though. 
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Posts

  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    edited March 2023
    And you are still friends?!!!
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Good for you, the world would be very boring if we were all the same.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Dilip_UKDilip_UK Posts: 114
    @pansyface, aww thank you for the post. Lovely post, made me laugh. Yes of course you are right, low maintenance is as you make it. I guess I am pondering where I want to be on the spectrum of immaculate or let it all hang out. I retired last year, prior to that working full-time, did very little gardening. Especially the back of the garden looked like a jungle. Large parts of garden, I could not even access. So I am now making up for lost time. I now have a garden reclaimed for me to do as I wish. 
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Good luck @dbhattuk, making a garden is part pleasure, part pain.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • GrannybeeGrannybee Posts: 332
    I think I might print out your comment pansyface and refer to it when someone asks me if my lawnmower is broken and did I know if that is a weed! Brilliant post! 
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    You could do same as I did when asked when I was going to tidy up the front garden by someone canvassing for votes. "its a nature reserve". No I didn't vote for him.
  • Red mapleRed maple Posts: 1,138
    I think for most of us, our gardens require some degree of maintenance. I suppose you could only really regard a “garden” as low maintenance if it were all concrete/paved and you didn’t have any pots of flowers or any bedding of any kind. It would still require some maintenance of course - sweeping/washing/weeds removing from any cracks etc. Any other kind of garden will require time and attention whether it is many acres or just a few square metres. That’s part and parcel of the fun of gardening 😁.
    Anyway @dbhattuk, I wish you many happy hours in your new found hobby. It will become a big part of your life if you take to it, as I’m sure you will. 😁
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I once had a very small garden. It was really frustrating to want to do a bit of gardening and find that it was all done. Not much chance of that in my current garden 
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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