In article JuM1a.552$DT1.51259@newsfep2-gui, Dave Arthuro
writes
As garden lovers you are going to kill me for asking this question! I am
purchasing a house with a small back lawn and some side plants. I really
have no interest in gardening Is it possible to have plants and grass
that require little or no intervention?

Yes, just leave it completely alone and it will naturalise into a
selection of wildflowers including grasses native to your region.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

In message , Kay Easton
writes
dave @ stejonda wrote,

my neighbours seem to be having trouble selling their concrete playpen

Yeah, but you said that that was looking pretty tatty, didn't you?

yes Kay, but my point was that this is less than a year after they
finished constructing it and that working with rather than against
nature is likely to be more satisfying for the OP and in the longer term
produce a more easily maintained garden

--
dave @ stejonda

Alternative Global News : http://commondreams.org//

in article , dave @ stejonda at
wrote on 10/2/03 8:11 pm:

In message , Kay Easton
writes
dave @ stejonda wrote,

my neighbours seem to be having trouble selling their concrete playpen

Yeah, but you said that that was looking pretty tatty, didn't you?

yes Kay, but my point was that this is less than a year after they
finished constructing it and that working with rather than against
nature is likely to be more satisfying for the OP and in the longer term
produce a more easily maintained garden

*I* am entirely in sympathy with your views but I really, really don't
think the OP will be, or not yet. Maybe, in the fullness of time, he will
enjoy working with nature but for him, that time seems not to have arrived.
And perhaps it never will if he spends the next X years swearing and cursing
because he has to maintain a lawn he doesn't want or appreciate and flower
borders that just do absolutely nothing for him. When I was in my 20s, I
remember someone recommending I grew Hostas in a certain part of my then
garden and me thinking "good grief, how boring can you get." Now - well,
let's just say I'm a bit older, a bit further down the line in gardening
terms and think rather differently.
But if he does start with paved over, *attractive* (mega important word
there) stones, cobbles, (I *love* cobbles and long to use them somewhere,
sometime) or even different types of paving/stone/cobbles to add interest,
plus pots with plants of their choice, this could be a *fantastic* small and
above all, enjoyed, garden. THIS garden will be all about design, textures
and harmony of *natural* materials but above all, enjoyable use. Stone
slabs, bricks, terracotta pots, water, carefully chosen plants in those pots
etc. etc. It wouldn't be all about unwanted, grudgingly mown lawn and
rigidly kept to the side, depressed borders.
I would so much rather buy a house with a garden like that which had been
thought about and looked after to its minimal requirements, than a house
with an unloved, unkempt garden, because I would immediately wonder if that
attitude reflected on the house itself. (No offence to the OP, BTW, I'm
speaking very broadly here!)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk

"Dave Arthuro" wrote in message
news:JuM1a.552$DT1.51259@newsfep2-gui...
As garden lovers you are going to kill me for asking this question! I am
purchasing a house with a small back lawn and some side plants. I really
have no interest in gardening Is it possible to have plants and grass
that require little or no intervention?

If you encourage moss to grow where the grass is, you will have a
lawn which will never require any attention!

Alan
--
Reply to alan(at)windsor-berks(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk

"sacha" wrote in message
But if he does start with paved over, *attractive* (mega important word
there) stones, cobbles, (I *love* cobbles and long to use them somewhere,
sometime) or even different types of paving/stone/cobbles to add interest,
plus pots with plants of their choice, this could be a *fantastic* small
and
above all, enjoyed, garden. THIS garden will be all about design, textures
and harmony of *natural* materials but above all, enjoyable use. Stone
slabs, bricks, terracotta pots, water, carefully chosen plants in those
pots
etc. etc. It wouldn't be all about unwanted, grudgingly mown lawn and
rigidly kept to the side, depressed borders.
I would so much rather buy a house with a garden like that which had been
thought about and looked after to its minimal requirements, than a house
with an unloved, unkempt garden, because I would immediately wonder if
that
attitude reflected on the house itself. (No offence to the OP, BTW, I'm
speaking very broadly here!)
--
When I designed my sister-in-laws garden, a very small patch of tatty grass
originally, I basically paved it with pavers and built two 1 m square and
2ft high flower/plant and pond troughs from brick either side offset from
one another, this makes the garden look bigger as there is effectively an S
shaped path between the planters not a straight line(difficult to describe).
Also designed some smaller double walls with soil between 1ft high as plant
troughs along part of each side coming off the larger troughs.
She can cope with the 1m square pond and planting out the similar flower bed
and smaller ones with summer bedding to the extent that she has purchased
some nice pots and plants them too, looks very pretty in the summer and is
easy to keep clean despite her dogs as it's very easy to hose down.

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

"Dave Arthuro" wrote in message
news:JuM1a.552$DT1.51259@newsfep2-gui...
As garden lovers you are going to kill me for asking this question! I am
purchasing a house with a small back lawn and some side plants. I really
have no interest in gardening Is it possible to have plants and grass
that require little or no intervention?



Are you aware that nospam.com is a legitimate address?

--
Regards,
Alan.

Preserve wildlife - Pickle a SQUIRREL to reply.

On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 15:28:55 -0000, "Dave Arthuro"
wrote:

Thanks guys

I would pave it over (tastefully!), but one concern I have about that is how
it might affect resale value. Any thoughts on that?


"Dave Arthuro" wrote in message
news:JuM1a.552$DT1.51259@newsfep2-gui...
As garden lovers you are going to kill me for asking this question! I am
purchasing a house with a small back lawn and some side plants. I really
have no interest in gardening Is it possible to have plants and grass
that require little or no intervention?

If you could do without the grass you could put membrane down and
cover it with your choice of paving, pebbles, shale, slate and/or
chipped bark, perhaps with a bench. You could cut holes in the
membrane and plant shrubs and put lots of pots of plants around.

Joan in Bramhall (Cheshire)

In article ,
sacha wrote:
But if he does start with paved over, *attractive* (mega important word
there) stones, cobbles, (I *love* cobbles and long to use them somewhere,
sometime) or even different types of paving/stone/cobbles to add interest,
plus pots with plants of their choice, this could be a *fantastic* small and
above all, enjoyed, garden. THIS garden will be all about design, textures
and harmony of *natural* materials but above all, enjoyable use. Stone
slabs, bricks, terracotta pots, water, carefully chosen plants in those pots
etc. etc. It wouldn't be all about unwanted, grudgingly mown lawn and
rigidly kept to the side, depressed borders.
I would so much rather buy a house with a garden like that which had been
thought about and looked after to its minimal requirements, than a house
with an unloved, unkempt garden, because I would immediately wonder if that
attitude reflected on the house itself.

Agreed.

Another idea:
Have paving, but with gaps in it (a bit like a sparse checkerboard
pattern). In the gaps, have some perennial plants. Low maintenance,
and good choice of paving/cobbles arrangements and plants in the gaps
can make for a very attractive garden.

Sharon

Why not lay a ground cover fabric, place several good rocks and around 3 to
4 inches of gravel and make a scree garden.

--
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk