5 Low-Maintenance Plants for Backyard Spaces
Transforming your backyard into a lush, vibrant oasis doesn't have to be a time-consuming endeavor. Experts in horticulture and landscape design have identified several low-maintenance plants that can thrive with minimal effort, bringing beauty and biodiversity to outdoor spaces. From the resilient Lomandra to the fragrant Lavender and the pollinator-friendly Bee Balm, these plant choices offer both aesthetic appeal and practical benefits for busy homeowners.
- Lomandra Brings Lush Vibrancy with Minimal Upkeep
- Lavender Adds Fragrant Beauty and Attracts Pollinators
- Lavender Offers Aromatic and Pest-Repelling Benefits
- Coneflowers and Lavender Create Low-Maintenance Gardens
- Bee Balm Energizes Spaces and Supports Biodiversity
Lomandra Brings Lush Vibrancy with Minimal Upkeep
One of my absolute favorite low-maintenance plants to recommend for adding life to a backyard is the Lomandra longifolia, commonly known as Spiny-headed Mat-rush. It is an incredibly hardy native Australian plant that thrives in a wide range of soil types, tolerates drought, handles full sun or partial shade, and needs very little care once established. In my 15 years of working in gardens and landscapes, I have used Lomandra in hundreds of projects because it brings a lush, vibrant look to a space without demanding constant upkeep. Thanks to my certification in horticulture and years of hands-on experience, I know exactly how to select the right varieties like 'Tanika' or 'Katie Belles' to suit different spaces and climates, ensuring they stay healthy and attractive for years.
One particular client came to me wanting a beautiful backyard they could enjoy without spending hours maintaining it. Drawing on everything I have learned over the years, I designed a simple layout featuring clusters of Lomandra along the borders mixed with a few seasonal flowers for pops of color. The result was a stunning, green, low-maintenance garden that stayed neat year-round with only a few trims and occasional watering. They were thrilled with how easy it was to care for, and the project even helped me win a customer service award because of how well it matched their needs and lifestyle.
Lavender Adds Fragrant Beauty and Attracts Pollinators
Personally, lavender is my favorite. I always recommend it, especially to friends who want something pretty but don't necessarily have the time—or let's be realistic—the energy to fuss over a plant every weekend.
Lavender (Lavandula) checks all the boxes: it's drought-tolerant, thrives in full sun, and honestly, the scent alone makes it worth planting. I put in a few lavender plants along the edge of my patio a few years ago, and they've become such a mood booster. Every time I walk outside, I get that light, calming fragrance, and it just makes the whole space feel like a retreat—even when I've done zero yard work.
Plus, bees and butterflies love it, which brings this nice, natural movement to the backyard. And if you're into DIY or little homey touches, you can clip sprigs to dry and use them in sachets or even cocktails (I even made a lavender-infused lemonade once—it was a hit). It's a hardworking plant that gives back way more than it takes. It grows best in USDA zones 5-9 and prefers well-drained soil.
Lavender Offers Aromatic and Pest-Repelling Benefits
One of my favorite low-maintenance plants to have in your backyard is lavender.
Lavender is a bushy shrub known for its beautiful flowers that grow in spikes along the stems. For English lavender, these are purple in color, while the white Edelweiss English lavender produces white flowers instead.
The reason why I like it so much is because of both its appearance and scent. Lavender is known for its delicate, sweet smell that will spread all over your garden once it blooms, making it smell lovely while also repelling moths and mosquitoes.
The plant's stems and flowers can also be harvested if you want to benefit from its abilities at home - simply dry them up and then place them in sachets. These can then be placed all around your home to keep it pest-free.
To grow lavender outdoors, make sure to plant it in a spot that receives at least 6-8 hours of sunlight per day and has well-drained soil with a pH between 6.5-7.5. When first planted, water it once or twice a week, especially during its first summer. Once established, it only needs watering during longer dry spells.
Coneflowers and Lavender Create Low-Maintenance Gardens
When it comes to giving your yard some life without a whole lot of effort, there's one plant that's ahead of the rest: lavender. This beautiful, scented perennial thrives under most conditions and requires little maintenance once established. It can tolerate full sun and parched soil and is thus the perfect choice for areas with top-notch sunlight. The fragrant flowers of the lovely lavender add a ray of colorful joy and even bring pollinators like bees and butterflies to your home's facade.
Another excellent low-maintenance option is the coneflower or Echinacea. These are long-flowering and drought-hardy and will bloom from mid-summer up into the fall months, giving an added aesthetic finale to your garden. Coneflowers also grow in a diversity of colors ranging from purple to pink, and the flowers and stalks themselves resist insects and diseases. They're also fantastic pollinator attractors, bringing life to your backyard with minimal maintenance.
Both coneflowers and lavender are perfect examples of flowers that do not require too much attention. Both give beauty, fragrance, and wildlife cover without too many watering and pruning needs. You can have a beautiful, welcoming backyard with these kinds of flowers without investing too much time in it.
To create a thriving low-maintenance garden, having the proper kind of plants for your area is important. When color, perfume, and wildlife support are important, coneflowers and lavender are good choices, and they excel in all of these qualities.
Bee Balm Energizes Spaces and Supports Biodiversity
When designing a backyard that feels both alive and easy to care for, my team always recommends plants that offer more than just beauty — they need to support local biodiversity, hold their own without constant upkeep, and bring a sense of harmony to the space.
One of my personal favorites? Bee balm (Monarda didyma).
Bee balm is a standout performer in Southern Ontario landscapes. It's hardy, adaptive, and unapologetically vibrant. With firework-like blooms in shades of red, pink, or purple, it instantly energizes any outdoor space — all while supporting the local ecosystem meaningfully.
- As the name suggests, bees can't get enough of it — and neither can hummingbirds and butterflies. Its tube-shaped flowers are like a natural nectar bar for pollinators.
- Once established, bee balm is incredibly easygoing. It tolerates a variety of soil conditions, comes back year after year, and only requires minimal deadheading to encourage extended blooming.
- Because it's native to the Southern Ontario region, Bee Balm thrives naturally in our climate without the need for synthetic fertilizers or excessive watering.
- Its leaves have a minty, citrusy scent and can even be used in herbal teas, adding a layer of sensory richness to any outdoor space it is a part of.
What I love most about bee balm is its balance — it brings energy and movement to a space while giving back to the environment. Whether it's swaying in the breeze or buzzing with life, it reminds us that a well-designed backyard can be effortlessly beautiful, all while giving back to our environment.
It's more than just a plant — it's a statement that your outdoor space is alive, intentional, and in sync with the world around you.
