Bring Back The Colour
Flipping the Script: From Low-Maintenance to Easy-Care Gardens
At Flora scope, we’re flipping the script—saying goodbye to dull, all-green gardens and welcoming vibrant, easy-care colour. It’s time to move beyond the purely functional and start feeling inspired by your garden again. Let’s dig in.
What Is a Low-Maintenance Garden?
When people hear low-maintenance garden, they often picture a landscape filled with succulents, grasses, and repetitive plant patterns—heavy on green, light on everything else.
This garden style is designed for simplicity. With structured layouts and tough, foliaged plants, these spaces are functional and neat. They:
Provide texture and movement
Offer shelter to birds and insects
Require little upkeep… at first
But here’s the catch:
Over time, even the hardiest green garden can become overgrown, dense, and messy underneath the surface. Dead foliage builds up, plants crowd each other out, and weeds creep through tight spaces.
Eventually, maintenance catches up. Cutting back fibrous, strappy plants or digging them out can become a backbreaking task. So while low-maintenance gardens look easy, they often just delay the work.
The Easy-Care Garden Approach
Enter the Easy-care Garden—a smarter, more joyful way to garden.
This approach combines structure with seasonal colour, using hardy flowering plants that thrive with just a little regular care. The goal? A garden that’s:
Visually dynamic
Pollinator-friendly
Easy to maintain with a quick trim every few months
These plants reward you with fragrance, colour, and life, without needing constant attention.
Easy-Care Plant Picks
Here are three top-performing plants we love for easy-care gardening:
🌿 Groundcover – Nepeta (Catmint)
Style tip: Soft, flowing groundcover
with blue-purple blooms.
Care: When it looks messy, cut it back
to the base. It regrows beautifully with
two trims per year—typically when the
weather is milder. Avoid pruning right
before winter for best results.
Shrub – Salvias
Style tip: Endless varieties in pinks,
reds, purples, and whites.
Care: Smaller species can be cut to the
ground. For larger types, prune back
to where fresh growth starts at the
base. Bonus: the stems smell divine!
Tree – Lagerstroemia (Crape Myrtle)
Style tip: Deciduous tree with show-
stopping blooms and snake-like bark.
Care: Very forgiving—cut it back hard
to control height. Offers colour in every
season: blossoms, autumn foliage, and
bark texture.
Design That Blends Structure with Soul
Not a fan of cottage chaos? That’s okay—easy-care doesn’t mean messy.
You can blend structural plants (grasses, succulents) with flowering varieties to get the best of both worlds. Here’s how:
Garden Design Tips:
Stick to 2–5 plant types per bed for visual clarity.
Use height layers:
Groundcover in front
Bushes in the middle
Trees at the back
Mix shapes and colours: Group plants by size, then play with combinations to find patterns you love.
Add feature plants: A potted showstopper or bold flowering tree can become the heart of your garden.
Creating a Wildlife Haven
One of the best perks of an easy-care garden? It attracts birds, bees, and butterflies—essential helpers for your garden’s health and biodiversity.
Bees love nectar-rich plants like Salvia, Nepeta, and Lavender. In return, they pollinate and boost flower production.
Birds flock to flowering gardens for nectar, seeds, and insects—helping with natural pest control.
Butterflies? They bring the magic.
Every bloom supports your local ecosystem. It’s a beautiful ripple effect that makes your garden not just pretty, but powerful.
Conclusion: Let Colour Inspire You
The Easy-Care Garden is about more than plants—it’s a lifestyle. A colourful, vibrant garden doesn’t have to be high-maintenance. With smart choices and simple seasonal trims, your garden can thrive and inspire.
So why settle for plain green when your garden can burst with colour?
Show Off Your Colour!
We’d love to see how you’re transforming your garden!
Tag us on Instagram @flora_scope and use #EasyCareGardens to share your blooms and inspire others.
Let’s bring the colour back—one beautiful bloom at a time.