Why low-maintenance planting suits a small garden

Small gardens are deceptively demanding. Every plant is on show, so mistakes stand out, and there is nowhere to hide a sulking shrub behind a hedge. Watering is the real grind: a modest collection of pots can need attention every other day in a warm spell, and if you work away from home that quickly becomes impossible. So choose species that genuinely prefer being left alone. Match plants to your conditions, plant them properly, mulch the surface, and you will spend your weekends sitting in the garden rather than running around it with a watering can.

Compact shrubs that earn their keep

Shrubs give a small plot its structure. These stay tidy without regular clipping, and most cope with the two conditions British gardeners meet most often: shade and dry spells.

• Skimmia japonica — evergreen, happy in shade or part shade, with red buds that hold through winter and open in spring. Thrives in a pot of ericaceous compost and needs nothing beyond the removal of the odd damaged stem.
• Hebe rakaiensis — forms a neat green dome roughly 60cm across, flowers white in early summer and shrugs off coastal wind and drought. Give it a light trim after flowering if it starts to look loose.
• Sarcococca confusa — Christmas box. Plain green leaves, but the small white flowers in January scent an entire courtyard. Perfect for a shady corner where little else will grow.
• Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety' — variegated evergreen that will climb or scramble, or can be clipped as a low bush. Tolerates sun, shade and poor soil.
• Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Tom Thumb' — dark purple, almost black foliage in a compact mound. Wants shelter from cold winds, but once settled needs no pruning at all.

Hardy perennials for long-season colour

Perennials are the cheapest way to fill a border, provided you pick the ones that do not need staking, dividing every year or constant deadheading.

• Geranium 'Rozanne' — flowers from June until the first frost. Cut the whole plant back by half in midsummer and it will flush again within a fortnight.
• Verbena bonariensis — tall, airy stems that self-seed gently around the garden, so you get replacements for free. Loves sun and gravelly soil.
• Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' — catmint. A haze of blue from late spring, then shear it back hard and it repeats. Drought-tolerant once established.
• Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude' (often sold as Sedum 'Autumn Joy') — fleshy leaves and flat pink heads in late summer that fade to bronze and stand through winter. Do not cut it down until spring.
• Helleborus x hybridus — nodding flowers from January to April in shade. The only job is cutting off the old leaves in late winter so the blooms are visible.
• Anemanthele lessoniana — pheasant's tail grass. Evergreen in mild areas, arching and bronze-tipped, and it looks good in a pot all year.

Drought-tolerant herbs for pots and borders

Mediterranean herbs are the hardest-working plants in a small garden: aromatic, edible, attractive to bees and happiest when ignored. The one thing they will not forgive is soggy roots.

• Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote' — deep purple, compact and intensely fragrant. Clip lightly after flowering in late August, but never cut into the old leafless wood.
• Rosemary — upright forms make a good evergreen pillar in a pot. Water sparingly; yellowing lower leaves usually mean too much water, not too little.
• Thymus vulgaris and Thymus serpyllum — the common and creeping thymes. Plant them in gaps between paving, where they release scent when walked on.
• Origanum vulgare — oregano. Let some flower for the pollinators; the dried seedheads still look good in winter.
• Salvia officinalis — sage, including purple-leaved forms. Trim after flowering to stop it going woody.

Use a loam-based compost mixed with about a third horticultural grit, and stand pots on feet so water drains freely.

Getting containers right

Most pot problems come down to size and compost. Choose the largest container you can live with — 35cm across or more for a shrub — because a big volume of compost dries out far more slowly than a small one. Loam-based compost holds moisture better than multipurpose alone. Cover the surface with gravel or slate chippings to cut evaporation and deter liverwort. Group pots together so they shade one another's roots, and water thoroughly but less often: a good soak encourages deep roots, while daily dribbles keep them shallow and dependent.

A light-touch care calendar

The whole point of planting this way is that the work is seasonal, not weekly.

• Spring — cut back last year's grasses and herbaceous stems, top-dress pots with fresh compost and a slow-release feed, and mulch borders while the soil is still damp.
• Early summer — cut some perennials back by a third to stagger their flowering and keep them compact. This is far easier than staking.
• Late summer — deadhead what looks tired, but leave sedum, echinacea and grasses standing for winter structure and bird food.
• Autumn — plant bulbs in pots and borders, clear fallen leaves from gravel, and check that saucers are not holding water.
• Winter — do very little. Empty saucers, raise pots onto bricks if the ground is waterlogged, and leave the seedheads alone until the worst of the frost has passed.

Get this rhythm right and a small British garden will look after itself for most of the year, leaving you free to enjoy it rather than service it.