Beautiful Drought-Tolerant, Low-Maintenance Flower Bed | Gardening with Creekside

You can create a low maintenance, drought-tolerant, and colorful planting area by choosing plants that are high performers but don't require a lot of fertilizing or fuss. Amend your soil well with a raised bed mix that you can plant directly into, such as the Black Gold raised bed and potting mix, which contains forest products, compost, and earthworm castings. Use a continuous release plant food at planting time and possibly supplement with water-soluble fertilizer just a couple of times during the growing season if needed. Choose drought-tolerant plants that don't need much maintenance like the Rockin' Deep Purple Salvia, Diamond Snow Euphorbia, and Mojave Yellow Portulaca.

Using a raised bed and potting mix like the raised bed mix mentioned offers several benefits: you can plant directly in it without having to mix it into existing soil, it is designed for various applications from container gardening to herb and vegetable gardens, and it's rich in nutrients from components like forest products, compost, and earthworm castings, which can reduce the need for additional fertilization.

Investing in your soil is crucial because it serves as the home for all your plants. By adding to your soil with products like a raised bed mix, you create a nutritious and healthy ecosystem that will support your plants, making them more robust and beautiful. Amending your flower bed once a year with rich soil can pay off for years to come, supporting a more effortless and vibrant garden.

If newly planted salvia plants are skinny and tall, they can be trimmed back to encourage branching if desired. Otherwise, they should naturally begin to branch out and become thicker when situated where sunlight can reach all parts of the plant.

Applying mulch to your flower bed, even when not required for aesthetics, can help retain moisture in the soil, reducing the need for frequent watering. This is especially beneficial in areas where you don't have an easily accessible water source or irrigation system.

Salvia plants will typically indicate when they need water by drooping. If the plants look limp, they likely need water, but if they are perky, they may not require additional watering, especially if rain is expected soon.

While there was no direct solution mentioned to prevent raccoons from digging up newly planted annuals, it was implied that this is a common nuisance. One approach might be to add protective measures such as netting or fencing, or to deter them with certain smells or commercial products designed to discourage raccoons from entering garden beds.