A young couple buying a home in a new subdivision experiences many of the same situations that face an older couple downsizing to a smaller, easy-to-maintain property.

The new home may have limited landscaping except for a few shrubs provided by the builder. On one hand, having little or no landscaping gives the homeowner the opportunity to plan a garden using his own ideas, color scheme and choice of plants. On the other hand, starting from scratch can be expensive.

Begin with the plot plan to determine where large plantings such as holly, fir and maple will be placed. Avoid overhead utility lines and underground drainage pipes. Design the garden footprint – round, curved or along a wall or fence.

Is the garden to enhance the home’s appearance or provide privacy for a patio? Determine the amount of sun or shade that will be needed. With the lack of mature trees, the only shade may be the home’s shadow.

Keep everything simple. An important thing to keep in mind is the amount of time you want to spend in the garden. In addition to the planning and executing stages, daily and weekly maintenance has to be considered. The young couple may have only weekends for yard work while an older couple plans to travel.

The following garden example is based on easy maintenance and a color scheme of pink, red, purple, green and silver.

With the house as a background, a garden designed with shrubs and ornamental trees will keep gardening chores to a minimum. A combination of barberry shrubs, available in beautiful burgundy and purple, plays off the purple leaf Japanese maple, dwarf lilacs and other flowering shrubs.

Various shades of light and dark pink azaleas nestle in the shadow of the house. A dark pink rhododendron highlights a corner. Select red and pink annuals and perennials interspersed with silvery foliage to complete the border.

Spring begins with a combination of bulb plants. A small grouping of tall, red tulips and several small groupings of miniature pink tulips planted throughout the border require little maintenance. Pink creeping moss phlox – a perennial requiring occasional watering and fertilizer – hugs the border edge.

During summer, a glorious display of annuals will provide an array of continuous color. Variegated pink and purple coleus coupled with red wave petunias are easy to maintain whether in ground or in containers. The only attention needed will be weekly watering and an occasional trimming. Add Dusty Miller and Lamb’s Ear, soft, silvery foliage plants, as an accent to the bright pinks and reds. Artemisia, Dusty Miller’s perennial cousin, is available in wondering and mound varieties.

For a patio setting, the paler shades are more visible in the evening. As the day ages, reds blend into the background and the cool pink shades become the prominent colors. Easy maintenance will be the use of containers in a variety of sizes, shapes and materials. An urn could feature a small cypress shrub that will live two years in a large container before needing to be transplanted into the ground.

Surround the shrub with a ruffle of pink waves. Highlight the urn with similar annuals and perennials in ground or in decorative containers. Intersperse spiraea “Little Princess” with barberries and boxwood to fill in the area around the patio.

Impatiens have been the primary annual shade flower for many years; however, remember that impatiens need daily watering. In ground watering system heads can be installed with impatiens and other moisture loving plants in mind.

A two- to three-inch layer of mulch will help retain moisture and keep weeds at a minimum.

Garden dos this week:

- Remove humidity damaged foliage.
- Keep herb beds weed free.
- Dig up bulbs and rhizomes that need dividing. Store in dry location.
- Begin planning fall bulb orders.

Julie Mallory is past president of the Southwestern Indiana Master Gardeners Association and has been an avid gardener for many years, becoming a Master Gardener in 2000. She and her husband, Ralph, garden five acres on Evansville’s North Side. She can be reached at ladygardener@att.net