Flower bed, shrubs, trees! Provides habitat for birds, bugs (bees, butterflies, etc.), shade, and beauty. Also, as we both know, flower beds provide endless amusement, exercise, and a soft place to relax for those furry creatures we love so much. Grass-not so much. Also, all the stuff people use to keep a lawn looking good is getting into our streams, rivers, and ground water. Yuck. I still have to work at it until the plants are big enough to keep down the weeds, but it is so worth it for the color, textures, etc. Cynthia

For the least time spent on maintenance, I would have evergreens with a heavy mulch.
Then probably a bed of evergreen ground cover.
Personally, I think grass comes next in terms of lower maintenance.
Beds with flowering shrubs (and again, heavy mulch) would come after that, and perennial beds, IMHO, take the most maintenance.
Some of the cottage gardens on this forum are beautiful, but also look like they take a lot of work. Some people, of course, would call it love. :)

"and perennial beds, IMHO, take the most maintenance."

And that is why I am gradually cutting back the size of my perennial beds. I have done away with one huge round bed and reduced the size of some others. The round bed was filled with daylilies and companion plants. I moved some plants to other beds, sold some and gave some away to family and friends.

Age is the main factor in doing this as I cannot keep up with the weeds and don't like a weedy garden. My DH does most of the mowing so grass is looking better and better with each birthday! ;>)

While I love the look of some grass only gardens I've seen, I'm concerned that decorative grasses might seed into the rest of our property and would not be good for grazing.

I also really like the look of mixed perennial beds with trees, shrubs, and flowers.

We are in the process of enlarging our house yard so will have more perennial beds. I'm planning on space between plants, large shrubs, mulching heavily, little lawn grass, and using paths, a labyrinth, a dry stream bed, and my garden house to provide interest. There is a lot to do but I hope it will be fairly low maintenance when done.

Not sure whether it will still qualify as a "cottage" garden tho.

Thanks for your answers, everyone.

Why are perennial beds so much more work?

Suzy described my feelings exactly. I spent 4 hours yesterday, weeding, picking up debris from said weeding, spraying, and mowing. Each year I begin to wonder if this isn't too much.

Here is why a flower bed is more work.

Each spring or fall, all dead plant tops have to be removed.
Some require regular pinching back.
Often watering is necessary.
Mulch has to be replaced regularly or you must weed steadily all season.
You have to keep an eye out for disease and insects which can devour them overnight (I refer mostly to powdery mildew, various leaf diseases on roses, and Japanese Beetles)

If you just have one or two beds it is not an huge issue, but several large beds and it gets to be a pretty big job.

I have 10 separate beds and I think I am not doing a super job with lots of them and I hate that so..........may begin cutting back.

To that end, I am doing a new mostly shrub border in the front yard. We have been told the trees near the road will have to come out at some point so I am trying to get a screen going before that time.

I hope this doesn't discourage anyone from having perennials. Unfortunately, age is something we have to factor in. Consider how much time you know you can devote to yard work and then go for it!

I just let mine get out of control!

IMHO, lawn areas are good for 1. places where there will be lots of kids or dogs playing and 2. places where you want to walk barefoot. Also lawn area is much cooler than hardscape, so having a plot of it is nice to relax in during the summer.

I'm only a newbie gardener, but my lawn could never give me the sense of satisfaction that my flower garden does. The garden is more work (weeding, planning, planting, pruning, etc.), but it is work I enjoy.

Lawns have maintenance too (mowing, edging, fertilizing, seeding, aerating, etc.), but I think it's a bit less than gardening.

A low-maintenance alternative might be an area with a lot of shrubs and low-maintenance flowers. Perhaps even a xeriscape.

Many shrubs offer flowers, berries, color change, etc. and many need only be pruned once or twice a year.

Watering also can be a lot of work for all of these types of areas unless you have a sprinkler system for a lawn or a drip system for flowers and bushes.

I think if I only had a very small amount of space, I would opt for a sitting area surrounded by a cozy mixed bed of shrubs, perennials, and annuals. You can minimize the amount of work by being careful to pick plants that are well-suited to your site and soil, are disease- and pest-resistant, and do not need a lot of fertilizing, pruning, water, etc.

The people on here are very knowledgable and have suggested a lot of great plants to people of every zone, experience level, and need. It's a great resource for new gardeners like me.

I've moved more and more toward native plants that are adapted to my climate. In addition to being low maintenance, they are the best at attracting wildlife. Now, that also means I'm content to have leaves that are eaten by the butterfly babies, and I leave faded flowers to go to seed for the birds (or for planting next year!) I also try not to get too angry when the furry guests eat something I hadn't planned for the dinner menu. For me, the garden is so much more than a pretty place to visit. It's a whole community of creatures and a daily miracle. OK, I sound a bit looney, but I hope many of you get the picture. I think a healthy balance of perennials, shrubs, annuals and some lawn for play-space works for me.

Martha

Cottage gardens can be a lot of work but oh, the payoffs. : )
{{gwi:539763}}

The trick is to keep them on the small side, similar to traditional cottage gardens of old. They were generally around or near the home and enclosed. That's what gives them the intimate appearance that helps define the style. And to keep maintenance low, be sure to intersperse favorite but higher maintenance bloomers like roses with flowering plants that don't need deadheading or those that bloom for long periods of time before needing cutting back. Also, add in foliage plants for interest/contrast. Just don't make them the "stars". Prolific bloomers are what make a cottage garden shine. : )

There's a bit of a learning curve so check out gardens in your area that appeal to you and good nurseries with knowledgeable help. And have fun! If it's too stressful or you're always fighting your temps, soil, dying plants, etc., then Mom nature is telling you another garden style should be considered.

Diana

Dh often encourages me to create more flower beds, and I keep telling him that I need to pace myself to see how much I can maintain - especially keeping up with watering and weeding a new area. And there definitely is a lot of work if you want to keep up with deadheading - some plants more so than others, of course. This is part of why when I finally do some real plantings in front of the house, they will be relatively low-maintenance ones, so if I don't have time to keep up with it, it will still look ok.

Of course, I do cheat - we have a service come and mow & edge the lawn. Dh hates to do it, and I'm allergic - plus, it gives me more time in the flower garden.

Do we have to choose one or the other? I like a little lawn with flowers circling it, and grass paths through the flower beds.

Edging -- we're edging long neglected areas. I can see light at one end of the tunnel -- when I look back.
No grass here is fertilized nor watered. It grows on what it can get, and goes dormant if there is a drought.

Nell

I have way too much grass!! lol. I would far rather weed a garden than mow a lawn. My garden gives me endless pleasure - every morning and evening I peruse what has bloomed, what has died back, etc. When I start looking at the lawn, it means it needs to be mowed. Sigh. No DH, no lawn fairie - just me. To my way of thinking, if a cottage garden or perrenial border is thick enough, weeds don't have much of a chance. If you can keep what is there from flowering and seeding, you get ahead of the game. I think it is a personal choice. I do like shrubs, especially flowering shrubs, and like to incorporate them into my borders.

Just my opinion. Nancy.

Martha, not looney at all. Natives are wonderful and I, too, am willing to put up with chewed leaves for the butterflies and moths! Diana, you're garden is absolutely beautiful-that's why I sometimes wish I had more sun, but I will compromise and grow what I can. Nancy, I agree!

Cynthia

If you really want the least amount of work, do some research of hostas. Select the right ones, plant them at the right distance, water well the first year, mulch or plant a good ground cover and after the first year or so, you've only to cut the flower scapes off once a year.

They have many variations: sun tolerant to shade tolerant; colors of green, chartreuse, yellow, and bluish, even a bit of red on some or plant them under a red leafed tree or shrub if you want more color. Hostas also vary in size: 8" W dwarfs to six feet wide. Shapes even vary from vase to mounds which keep the weeds down. Texture varies too. The rougher coarser leaves are more resistant to slugs, further lessening your work.

Some, I believe, are stoleniferous and considered ground covers. Some low growing ground covers work too--research, you don't want them to kill your hosta. Or groundcovers alone would work.

The days of boring, one shade of green hosta gardens are a thing of the past. I love tucking in a taller grass, ligularia and an astilbe here and there for variation in texture, height and softening effect. I also under plant VA Bluebells which bloom when the hosta are first coming up in the spring, then dies back.

I mulch a lot while they are growing 3-7 years, depending on mature size. Personally, I leave a few bare spots to add some annual color with impatiens, begonias and the beautiful deep blue of various browalias.

google "Hosta Library" for list of slug resistant, sun tol., and absolutely necessary knowledge about HVX.
gramma jan

What a wonderful thread and what great questions. Personally, I had rather be surrounded by lush flower beds (perennials, annuals and shrubs mixed) with charming rock-lined grass paths meandering through them, stopping occasionally at a rose-covered arbor, trellis, or at odd, classic pieces of garden art.

Realistically? I am 70 years old, in the past three years have had two heart attacks, bypass surgery (one didn't work), breast cancer and three breast cancer surgeries. There ain't no way I can take care of a huge garden! LOL So, I have had to downscale my ideas and be happy with four or five small beds, more grass than I'd like but at least a yard man to cut it for me, and flowers that don't take much work.

As I have said, I am really just starting and am a newbie at "real" gardening. Although I was scared to death of them, I have found that roses give me the most pleasure and really aren't as hard as I thought. I love traditional, old-fashioned (some now considered invasive and "junk") plants that I remember in my grandmother's and aunts' gardens and have many in pots on my deck waiting to be planted (the hot weather came too fast this year and caught me before I could do any beds).

So, in a nutshell, what we'd "druther" have may conflict with what we can realistically maintain. My sister is a wonderful, experienced gardener (younger than I but no spring chicken herself) and has a cottage garden to die for. However, she and her hubby spend hours and hours keeping it up and it is starting to wear them down. I'm afraid I'm going to have to be happy with my few beds and a container garden on my deck.

Judy

There is nothing wrong with doing what you are comfortable with.....we are not about the letter of the 'law' here. We ARE about the spirit of the garden. Most of us are no longer peasants, living on the fringes of the Manor, trying to grow something to eat, and flowers to feed the soul, and possibly to sell, surviving with the cast-offs of the Laird. That's where the Cottage Garden evolved from, and evolved is the key word there. None of us are there any more (OK, no peeking at my bank balance, LOL). So we still attempt to feed our souls, and possibly our stomaches. And that, imho, is the way it is!!!!

Nancy - 70, omg, I hope that I can do containers then!!!