Simple and Low-Maintenance Plants for Easy Container Gardens

Some of you like growing plants but don’t want to do too many gardening chores. I’m not blaming, it is a reasonable thought because I also felt so overwhelmed with doing garden chores that I ask help or tried to reduce Gardening Chores using some tools. This approach is not possible for everybody.

Instead, you can grow low-maintenance plants, which is ideal for beginners, lazy gardeners like me, people with busy lifestyles and people who want to live a minimal lifestyle and slow lifestyle routine. Oh.! You have got a question…How is it possible that one type of plant suits different lifestyles and people? Read below

Benefits of Low-maintenance Plants

Time-Saving these plants require minimal care so you don’t have to spend more time taking care of plants., also these varieties don’t require frequent replanting which also reduces the chore. [ideal for busy bees]
Easy Care These plants are naturally hardy so they can survive even if you forget to water few days, and they don’t require frequent fertilisers. They thrive in good potting mix [ ideal for lazy gardeners]
Cost-effective These less water-requiring, less fertiliser-requiring, and low-maintenance characteristics cut a lot of costs in Gardening. [Ideal for minimal lifestyle people]
Stress-free Gardening the less to worry about plants gives you a hassle-free gardening experience. You don’t need to face diseases, wilting and overwatering issues. [ideal for slow-living lifestyle people]

What makes a plant “Low-Maintenance”

Some of you might be wondering how these plants are low-maintaining than usual Plants. Firstly, Container Gardening itself is a Low-maintaining Gardening method. You don’t need a lot of ground space to do gardening, you don’t need to worry about making the soil a cultivatable base, weeds, pests and diseases, and the need for watering the list is endless.

Container Gardening already has the most tiring issues, these low-maintenance plants make the container gardening process much easier. The below-listed factors make the plants “Low-Maintenance”.

Minimal watering plants in the low-maintaining category are drought-tolerant varieties that don’t need more frequent watering.
Hardy and Resistant plants are tough and survive even in extreme temperatures, and poor soil also they bounce back easily from small damages.
Pest-resistant plants are naturally less attractive to pests or natural pest-repellent. They don’t need pesticides and minimal watering prevents root rot, mould and fungus attacks.
Slow Growing Many of the low-maintenance plants are slow-growing varieties, so you don’t have to worry about frequent repotting, pruning and trimming.
Adaptable these plants can adapt to any climate. Most of them are survivors in hot temperatures so it’s not hard to thrive in your infrequent watering or poor soil condition.

KEY TRAITS OF LOW-MAINTENANCE PLANTS

There are some common characteristics for Low-maintenance plants, less frequent watering, less care-requiring, hard-to-kill plants, and plants that don’t need fertilizers and don’t need frequent repotting. These are common terms, but knowing these traits in plant terms helps to identify when you buy a plant.

Drought-tolerance

These kinds of plants are minimal water-requiring varieties. Drought-tolerance plants (mostly succulents) have the natural structure of waxy leaves that help to avoid water evaporation, these plants store water in leaves and stems, and a deep-rooted system allows the plant to access every part of the potting mix to absorb the water.

Pest and disease

Some of the plants are less attracted to pests and disease-tolerant. Tough/Thick leaves make insects hard to penetrate, and waxy layers deter pests. Some plants produce natural essential oils (like marigolds and garlic) that act like pest repellents and inhibit fungal attacks. Hair leaves or stems prevent bugs from laying eggs on plants. Plants with Thorns or spikes (roses & cacti) prevent the plant from getting eaten. Aromatic plant scents interfere with the insects’ ability to locate.

Hardy Plants

Hardy Plants are known for their survival even in the extreme cold, drought and poor soil quality. Plants like Hosta’s, daylilies and coneflowers are cold-resistant. Hardy plants are deep-rooted and help to conserve water. Hardy plants are less prone to disease, and they require minimal care once they are established.

Slow-growing or Compact

Slow-growing plants (dwarf varieties) take several years to reach their mature sizes so you don’t have to prune so often, with no frequent repotting. These kinds are not only slow-growing but also compact to small space gardens. Also, sedum family succulents are known as slow-growing and compact.

BEST LOW-MAINTENANCE PLANTS FOR CONTAINER GARDENS

SUCCULENTS AND CACTI

Succulents and Cacti are the best options for people who want low maintenance. They’re less water-requiring plants, hardy, drought-tolerant, adapt to poor soil quality and easy to propagate. Some of the succulents are slow-growing varieties so you can grow them even in smaller spaces in small pots (4 inches). All they need is sunlight well-drained potting mix and drainage holes in pots. The below recommendations are only popular choices, you can grow any variety from the family of that succulent.

Stonecrop family succulents (jade, sedum, echeveria)
Cactus Family (Saguaro, barrel cactus, Christmas cactus)
Agave family (agave and yucca)
Aleo family
Euphorbiaceous family
Senecio (string of pearls, hearts,bananas)
Portulaca
Apocynaceae (hoya and Stapelia)

HERBS

The herbs listed below are considerable if you want to add low-maintenance herbs to your gardens. All of these herbs can be grown in 6-inch pots.

Rosemary is an evergreen shrub that is drought-tolerant and opted for sunny spots. Rosemary thrives in well-drained soil. It’s the best herb for hair growth.

Lavender is well-known for its aromatic features, and natural pest-repellent. Suitable for sunny spots and well-drained soil. An extremely drought-tolerant herb. Lavender is also known for its ability to promote relaxation and reduce stress by the fragrance.

Sage is a herb with greyish-green leaves (aesthetic check) with woody stems, grows in well-drained soil suitable for sunlight exposure spots and doesn’t require frequent watering. Sage is usually used to garnish.

Thyme is a kitchen herb, that grows well in sunlight. A small woody plant prefers well-draining soil. Thyme is known for its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.

Oregano is a hardy perennial herb, that can thrive even in poor rocky soils and extremely heat-tolerant and drought-tolerant. Oreganos are commonly used in kinds of pasta and pizzas.

EVERGREEN SHRUBS

These low-maintenance shrubs can be grown in 8-inch pots. A well-drained soil is enough to thrive, and these shrubs are tolerant to poor soil as well. Shrubs can thrive in partial and full sun, mostly drought-tolerance.

Boxwood a dense slow growing shrub, tolerates pruning. A year-round shrub that can be used in hedges as well. A soil-tolerant shrub with low water needs.
Holly is a shrub with spiny and glossy leaves with red berries. A full-sun shrub tolerates shade.
Juniper is a hardy drought-tolerant shrub that only requires minimal watering. Juniper tolerates poor soil and erosion control on slopes.
Azalea is a partial shade preferring shrub with flowers, and foliage year around. A well-drained little acidic soil is preferable to thrive. A pollinator attracts shrubs.
Camellia is a shrub with rose-like flowers. A partial shade-loving shrub thrives in well-drained soil and requires minimal care and pruning.

FLOWERING PLANTS

These flowering plants can be grown in 10-inch pots., with well-drained nutrient-rich soil, making the first potting mix nutrient cutoff the frequent fertilising, and using organic slow-release fertilizers is a long-term solution. The below-listed flowering plants tolerate full sun and are drought-tolerant.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT LOW-MAINTENANCE PLANTS FOR YOUR ENVIRONMENT

If you’re in a cooler climate choose plants that tolerate extreme moisture and are cold-hardy or adapt to shade-loving plants.
If you’re in hot weather the above-listed plants are all suited for your garden.
Placing plants based on their sunlight requirements helps to reduce plant care.

Choosing compact plants (like the shrubs I mentioned above) grows slowly so there is no frequent repotting and pruning.

BEST PRACTICES TO MAINTAINING LOW-MAINTAINING PLANTS

Minimal Watering

The concept of minimal watering is not to pour less water but instead adopt some watering techniques. Rather than frequent watering try Deep watering using soaker Hose nozzles, this method encourages roots to grow deeper and absorb water in every inch of the soil.

Checking the soil before watering is the best watering practice, in this method, you only water the plant when you feel the top soil layer is dry, you can avoid overwatering and conserve water. Watering in the morning prevents evaporation and gives plants time to absorb water.

Self-watering tools

Using self-watering pots, watering spikes, globes and drip irrigation helps to water plants easily. If you’ve indoor plants or a minimum quantity of plants self-watering pots are useful. If you already have pots (favourites pots) or more than 30 plants you can try watering spikes and globes. If you’ve a larger collection of plants try to set a drip irrigation.

Fertilizing Needs

To reduce the frequent fertilising of plants, try light fertilization that keeps the plant healthy without much care. The concept of light fertilization is using slow-release fertilizers aka organic fertilizers. Use a slow-release fertilizer at the beginning of the growing season and it will gradually and slowly release nutrients throughout out the soil over months.

If you’ve only low-maintenance house plants, and succulents then you don’t need special fertilizers, Adding organic liquid fertilizers like seaweed and compost tea to plants once a month is enough. Dilute one cup of liquid fertilizers in 2 litres of water and pour them using a watering can.

Potting Mix

Using quality organic nutrient-rich potting mix, cut off the frequent fertilization. Adding compost and manure to the potting mix helps to keep the soil mix nutrient-rich. Using well-draining soil mix also prevents overwatering, soggy soil, root rot and fungal infections in soil. Adding perlite and vermiculite makes the soil well drain.

If you’ve potted plants in sunny spots, and seeing those pots drying quickly makes you water frequently. Adding cocopeat in the potting mix helps to retain the moisture naturally, adding a layer of mulch in the top layer of soil also prevents water evaporation.

Pest Prevention

Choosing Hardy and pest-resistance plants opt for places where you are affected by pest armies.
Plants like lavender, marigold, thyme and rosemary are natural pest-resistant plants.
You can plant these in between to other plants to prevent pest attacks, these are natural pest repellents.
Choosing quality plants, saplings and seeds makes the plant strong from starting, these are less vulnerable to pests.
Using neem oil spray prevents pests, also neem oil doesn’t harm beneficial organisms and pollinators.
Using Companion planting also prevents pest attacks.
Removing dead parts of plants immediately and keeping the plants clean is the first step to preventing any pests and diseases.

COMMON CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Every plant type and gardening method has its challenges. Identifying them and solving them by utilising gardening knowledge is a part of the gardener’s journey. To me facing a plant problem means learning a new skill in gardening. These are some very common problems and solutions in low-maintenance container gardening.

Over-Watering

Signs of overwatering: Yellowing leaves or mushy leaves, wilting despite moisture soil, root rot, mold and fungal growth.

The solution to overwatering: Use well-drained soil, use pots with drainage holes, water only when necessary and check soil before watering.

Container Size

Undersized Pots: planting in too small containers leads to root crowding, and lead to root binding affects plant growth. Choosing pots 2 inches bigger than the root ball is the right size for a pot. Plant size doesn’t determine the pot size you have to look at the root ball size before choosing the pot size.

Oversized Pots: Choosing an oversized pot and thinking you don’t have to repot for years is a big no. A bigger pot holds excess moisture in the soil that leads to root rot and fungal diseases in plants. Don’t move too small saplings directly to bigger pots, instead try to increase the pot size based on plant growth.

Root-bound Plants

Signs of root bound: Visible roots in drainage holes, you might see some plants stopped growth like no production or bloom anything and water drains so quickly because the root occupied the space with no potting mix or soil to hold moisture.

Solutions for root bound: Check the plant root if you see root bound loosen the soil transfer it bigger pot and add nutrient-rich soil. If you can’t move to bigger pots cut off the bottom of the root a little bit. You can also split the plant into 2-3 parts in different pots.

CONCLUSION

The motto behind this blog post is your busy lifestyle isn’t a burden to be a gardener. Knowing about these low-maintenance plants, how to choose them, care for them and cut off the mistakes makes gardening much easier for you.

Some of you might think low-maintenance plants mean just house plants and succulents with the above suggestions you will know more about low-maintenance plants that can be grown effortlessly.

Visit our Homepage to learn more about container gardening how to choose plants and pots and how to prepare soil/potting mix for your perfect garden. And knowing container gardening tools uses and benefits.

And tell me in the comments, which plants are easier to care for and hard to care for you. If you’re a non-gardener tell me what makes you stop buying a plant and start gardening.