Plants grow on constant gardener

When you think of the perfect garden plant, what comes to mind? Beautiful multiseason color? Low maintenance but high visual impact? Drought and pest resistance? All of these? It seems that many beautiful plants’ strengths are balanced by their weaknesses. A fragrant rose may be especially prone to disease; your favorite perennial may require constant deadheading or dividing.

Tracy DiSabato-Aust has her own criteria for perfect garden plants. They must have multiseason interest, colorful foliage, long-lasting blooms and great texture. She also requires a cold-hardy, deer-proof, temperature- and drought-tolerant plant that resists pests, needs little deadheading, very little fertilizing, no staking, and infrequent pruning and division.

"We want plants that are highly ornamental, that have colorful foliage, a long season of interest, or outstanding texture or great architectural form on top of fitting the 12 traits for maintenance. Not many plants fit those criteria, so when I went to put the list together, it certainly thinned the herd,” she said.

In her book, "50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants,” DiSabato-Aust proves you can choose from a variety of plants that fulfill most of her expectations and combine to create a striking, easy-to-maintain garden.

"So many people say it’s too much work. I wanted to inspire not only the veteran gardeners to use plants like this but also new gardeners,” she said. "Gardening is so great because it’s rewarding. It’s a great way to reduce negativity and increase positive energy. I think we need that, but we need a garden we’re not feeling enslaved by, because that just adds to the stress.”