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Low Maintenance Landscape Designs for Less Mowing and Hand Trimming

Eliminate hand trimming around garden statues, playsets, narrow spaces and individual trees and shrubs.

Create mowing strips around patios, raised beds and stonewalls to eliminate hand trimming. Surround the structure with a strip of pavers, edging material or mulch. You’ll be able to mow right along the mowing strip.

Connect individual trees and shrubs with mulched beds. Start by cutting the grass in the future bed area very short. Next edge the bed. Cover the area with newspaper or cardboard. The paper layer helps kill the existing grass and eventually breaks down, adding organic matter to the soil. Top this off with a layer of wood mulch.

You’ll spend less time trimming around each plant. Plus, the mulch bed protects the plants from weed whips and mowers.

And if this is too much mulch, try filling the area with perennials and groundcovers for added beauty and seasonal interest.

A bit more information: Help keep your home and landscape cooler with the help of groundcovers. Temperatures above groundcovers are often 12 to 15 degrees cooler than paved surfaces. Use groundcovers between and around paved surfaces to help reduce the impact of summer heat.

Upcoming Events & Webinars

 

Feb. 18, 2026
FREE WEBINAR: 
Plants that Go the Distance
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Feb. 19, 2026
FREE WEBINAR: 
How to Select Rain Garden Plants
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Feb. 25, 2026
FREE WEBINAR:
Flowering Houseplants

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Mar. 5, 2026
FREE WEBINAR:
Start New Plants from Seeds, Cuttings and More

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Mar. 11, 2026
FREE WEBINAR:
Save Money & Boost Your Growing Success with Bare Root Plants

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Mar. 18, 2026
FREE WEBINAR:
Patio, Deck and Balcony Gardens

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March 21 & 28, 2026
REALTORS Home & Garden Show
West Allis, WI
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March 26, 2026
FREE WEBINAR: 
Getting Started Growing Vegetable and Flower Gardens
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April 1, 2026
FREE WEBINAR: 
Growing a Bountiful Harvest 
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April 9, 2026
FREE WEBINAR:
7 Steps to Managing Water on Your Property

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April 11, 2026
A Day in the Garden
Fond du Lac, WI
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April 18, 2026
3rd Annual Spring Rally
Oshkosh, WI
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April 19, 2026
Ebert's Greenhouse Village
Ixonia, WI

April 23, 2026
Iowa State University
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April 25, 2026
Pasquesi Home & Gardens
Lake Bluff, IL

April 26, 2026
Ebert's Greenhouse Village
Ixonia, WI

May 2, 2026
Ebert's Greenhouse Village
Ixonia, WI

May 6, 2026
FREE WEBINAR: 
Adding Native Plants
to Any Size Gardening Space

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May 9, 2026
Ebert's Greenhouse Village
Ixonia, WI

May 10, 2026
Ebert's Greenhouse Village
Ixonia, WI

May 16, 2026
Ebert's Greenhouse Village
Ixonia, WI

May 17, 2026
Ebert's Greenhouse Village
Ixonia, WI

May 21, 2026
FREE WEBINAR: 
Planting & Care of Your Rain Garden
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June 3, 2026
FREE WEBINAR: 
Managing Your Landscape
with Pollinators in Mind

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Sept. 3, 2026
FREE WEBINAR: 
Tree Planting and Care
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Sept. 17, 2026
FREE WEBINAR:
Fall Landscape Care and Planting

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