Minimal Maintenance

Tools to help make watering easier and more accurate will gain in popularity. For the landscape, if you don't have an in-ground irrigation system, create your own system with a timer attached to your water faucet and soaker hoses snaked through your garden beds. Soaker hoses are porous and release H2O right at soil-level for the most efficient watering. For potted plants, digital moisture meters can give a more precise read on whether your houseplant needs a drink. Water globes are a decorative way to slowly water your potted plants as they need it, and water-absorbing granules incorporate in the potting soil can help hold moisture and release it slowly as needed. Self-watering pots have a water reservoir at the bottom to keep your plants hydrated.

In 2020, low maintenance plants that don't require tons of attention or care will be on trend for outdoors and inside. Succulents and cacti, perennials, and evergreens are popular easy-care options. Succulents, air plants and Marimo moss balls are great houseplant options that require very little care. Cacti and succulents, with their water-holding properties, need little attention to thrive - especially in hot, sunny landscapes. If planting outside, be sure to choose succulents that will survive winters in our region, like stonecrop and hens-and-chicks. Perennials are plants that come back every season, so you get many years of enjoyment from the 1 planting session. Popular low-care perennials include hostas, daylilies, astilbe, helleborus, rudbeckia and coreopsis. Evergreens that keep their foliage all year round are the ultimate in easy-care. Options like camellia, distylium and abelia keep their foliage year round, require little maintenance, and also provide interesting blooms, texture and color respectively.

Where eco-friendly meets easy-care! A waterwise landscape is not only beautiful - it's functional. By using plants with low water needs and other strategic tips, your landscape can be gorgeous without gouging your water bill. Plants like yucca, cacti, sedum and other hardy succulents are the ultimate drought-tolerant plants, as are blooms like lantana, salvia, verbena, and echinacea. Cut back on your landscape watering, too; most homeowners tend to overwater - cutting back to once a week for about 30 minutes is plenty for most landscapes. You can also try grass alternatives that don't need water like pebbles and mulch or creating attractive rock gardens and patios in addition to strategic plant selection.