A 500 m² low-maintenance garden around a new house
A new house stands in the middle of a 25 by 20 metre plot, with bare soil all round after the build. The owners work long hours and want a garden that does not take every weekend: plenty of green, little mowing, a terrace and some cover from the road. Sun all day.
Idea 1 of 325 × 20 m
HouseLawn25 m20 mN5 m
Plot boundary
Building, existing
Seating area (no lawn or beds)
Lawn
Planting bed
Path
Plant at mature spread
Idea shown in full
Easy-care green
A garden that asks little: tough shrubs and grasses in simple borders around open space.
A sketch of the idea. Check the measurements on site before building.
The answers in this example
25 × 20 m
House
Full sun
Soil moisture: medium
Little upkeep
A place to sit
Privacy
Style: modern
How much work: little
The plot is an example, made up to show the result. The plan, the plants and every figure on this page are what the Verdlo studio works out from these answers, the same as it will for you.
The plants, and why these
Every one of these:
Copes with winters here
Likes the sun this spot gets
Purple-leaf plumPrunus cerasifera 'Nigra'× 1Flowers in April · Edible · Leaves worth havingMildly harmful if eaten (children, dogs and cats).
Russian sageSalvia yangii× 15Flowers from July to September · Silver leaves · Takes a dry spell
Blue Arrow juniperJuniperus scopulorum 'Blue Arrow'× 72Flowers in April · Evergreen · Goes upwardsMildly harmful if eaten (children, dogs and cats).
Japanese spiraeaSpiraea japonica 'Little Princess'× 12Flowers from June to August · Stays small
Lady's mantleAlchemilla mollis× 19Flowers from June to July · Leaves worth having · Covers the ground
Fountain grass 'Hameln'Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln'× 21Flowers from August to September · Shape that holds through winter · Stays small
Show 3 species more
Moss phloxPhlox subulata× 48Flowers from April to May · Takes a dry spell
Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'× 34Flowers in June · Silver leaves · Takes a dry spell
Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation'Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation'× 53Flowers from May to June · Goes upwards · Shape that holds through winterCaution: dogs and cats. Mildly harmful if eaten (children).
Poisonous if eaten: Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' (dogs and cats).
Note: seeds itself about; cut the flowers off after flowering if you do not want seedlings
Underground pipes and cables cannot be seen from above: before digging, find out where they run from your local utility locating service or the utility companies.
On a large plot, have a surveyor measure the levels of the ground.
Watering plan
In a dry summer week this garden needs about 4,317 l of water: 2,455 l for the lawn, and the beds every 4 to 7 days, depending on the plants.
What it may cost
from 11,282 to 31,949 PLN
Estimated cost of plants and materials in Poland, without labour, delivery, paving, walls or edging.
The other two ideas from the same answers
In the studio each of the three ideas comes with its full list of plants, watering and cost.
Flowers and bees
Deeper borders full of flowers the bees love, set among shrubs and grasses.
Plants
160 and 94 bulbs
Beds
5
Materials
from 10,233 to 27,969 PLN
Clean lines and calm
A clipped hedge and repeated planting: a garden that looks tidy all year.
Plants
223 and 9 bulbs
Beds
4
Materials
from 11,174 to 32,836 PLN
What this plan does not know
Your soil. The example assumes the soil from its answers, but it cannot know how acid or heavy yours is: a simple test kit from a garden centre tells you before you buy plants.
Pipes, cables and a septic tank under the ground. No plan can see them: mark them in the studio as ground to keep clear, and check where they run on your house's site plan before you dig.
Where your plot really ends. The sizes here are made up; yours come from the land register (type the parcel number into the studio), and only a surveyor marks them on the ground.
Plan a garden like this on your plot
The studio opens with these answers. Type in your plot's size and change whatever is different.
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