Cover photo Timber Press

The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden, by Roy Diblik. © 2014 Timber Press.

Everyone loves a beautiful garden with perennials and bulbs that provides enjoyment throughout the growing season. But its a lot of work, isnt it? All that planting, mulching, weeding and dead-heading eats into the time we could be strolling amongst the flowers. And it takes forever to prune all those plants back in the spring so our gardens look nice and tidy, not to mention a pickup-load of bark mulch to keep the weeds down. Its enough to deter even the hardiest of gardening souls.

Roy Diblik to the rescue! His latest book, The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden, debunks traditional landscaping advice in favor of a more natural approach that takes advantage of site, soil, light and just the right selection of plants to bring year-round beauty and interest to your home or business. By knowing how and when plants grow, spread and interact with each other you can have beautiful blooms throughout the growing season and eye-catching structure during the winter months as well. And with Dibliks self-mulching approach, a good mowing in the early spring and occasional spot weeding once your garden has been established is all the maintenance youll need to keep your plants happy and healthy.

The biggest mistake we make, says Diblik, when establishing new garden areas is spacing the plants too far apart and using acres of bark mulch for weed suppression. Bark mulch actually can kill new plants, especially when piled around the crowns which can lead to rot. And spacing plants too far apart just leaves more space for weeds to get established.

Dibliks book includes information on 74 plants that are a good starting point for low-maintenance perennial gardens, and 62 plans that can be adapted for almost every size, shape and microclimate. While the plant selection is limited, it is a good starting point that can be expanded to include new varieties. Once established, these gardens will provide years of enjoyment for very little input.