A garden is a lifetime exercise in maintenance; the poorer the initial design the greater the task of upkeep, which of course entails time and labour.

If the work is done by by a landscape contractor there is a cost involved. The question then arises: are you receiving value for money? What do you want from your garden?

A garden comprises plant beds, lawn and often hard landscaped features, all of which require ongoing attention to keep them in a visually acceptable and healthy condition. How important is a lawn to your property? Especially a weed-free lawn which adds greatly to the visual impact of the property in general.

A weedy lawn is visually unattractive with its mix of foliage and varying heights from each “plant”. A good lawn should consist of one grass type that gives a constant visual effect of uniformity. To achieve this requires regular maintenance that includes mowing with either a rotary mower for broad-leaf grasses, or a reel mower for fine-bladed grasses. Weed control and fertilising are also required for a healthy weed-free appearance.

Flower beds can include annuals, shrubs, trees, palms, cacti and succulents, ground covers, bulbs and herbaceous material – all of which is a lot of work to maintain. View the garden from inside the house, which is the major impact point. Consider making the major statements on the boundary, which is viewed from all areas of the house and also acts as a screen from the road or the neighbours.

Contingent on your preferences, select plants that have a year-round appeal with longer flowering periods. Plants with a short flowering period do little for the average garden unless planted aside long-flowering types.

By planting larger species at the back of the bed, followed by medium species and low-growing types at the front of the bed, the visual impact creates a façade for the group of plants.

Use low-growing spreading plants towards the front of the beds to add interest and reduce the germination of weed growth. Beds with a good canopy of foliage will have a lower rate of weed infestation as the light will be much less at soil level.

Fewer foundation plants of a larger size should be the marker for the initial design layout. Plants with a long flowering period hold their foliage longer and produce seed and/or fruits; the latter will extend the interest level.

Pruning is, in many gardens, overdone, mainly due to poor choice of location or planting too close to its neighbour. Plants are also often planted too close to the edge of the bed or footpath or road, As a result, pruning is required more often to the detriment of potential flowering.

Hard landscaping includes patios, swimming pools, footpaths, parking, trash bins and, if required, the laundry line location. The latter two should ideally be located near the kitchen/laundry entrance and certainly not seen from the “used” areas of the garden. Parking is best located away from grass areas to avoid vehicles driving on the grass and causing compaction which will show up during hot dry periods and encourage certain weed types to establish themselves. To avoid the same problem with parking, allow enough turning area for a large vehicle.

Faucets should be created in areas that are close to the intended usages, with hose reels to keep the areas tidy. Do not leave hose pipes lying in the sun as water within the pipe will burn foliage as well as the roots if not drained prior to application.

Maintenance is not a static entity and should be based on an as-needed basis. This applies especially to lawns, as many are mown far too regularly during the hot dry summer, when in reality it is an exercise in creating a “dust storm” with little, if any, grass being cut.

Growing plants can be a frustrating and costly experience when little or no thought has gone into the design concept.

• Malcolm Griffiths is a trained horticulturalist and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture in Britain. He is also past president of the Bermuda Horticultural Society, the Bermuda Orchid Society and the Bermuda Botanical Society