In the past, I've been asked to create landscape plans for clients. And a common request I get goes something like this, "we really like pretty flowers, but we aren't much on working outside... is there a way to make our landscape very low maintenance?"
If you are a gardener and love your landscape, this question will invariably elicit FRUSTRATION. Of course, as someone offering my services, I feel I need to serve up a more compassionate response rather than chastizing them for not thinking like I do. However, I find it hard to feel energized about helping people create something that I know will not be maintained.. On a tangent, I also encounter people who simply want me to confirm their already thought-out ideas or plans- essentially to offer validation. But that's a different rant altogether.
I get the "low maintenance" phrase so much, it pretty much quelched any desire I might have had to work for other people. Not that landscaping was ever my strong suit... As much as I always need the money, I'm not a gifted designer, at least in the mainstream conventional sense. My idea of a beautiful landscape is simply not popular except with a small segment of extremely plant-passionate people. And those folks rarely want other's input or much less me infringing on their creative decisions. And I totally get that! Lol, I too get fiercely territorial with my own garden.
But the public needs to know that if they ask for"low maintenance" what they are essentially asking for is just another "mow and blow" cookie-cutter HOA-conforming landscape. A garden without any distinct sense of personal aesthetic or identity. Sorry to be so critical, but that isn't what I consider true gardening. That's just keeping up with the Joneses!
No, to be the kind of gardener I desire to be is to fall in love with your space and your plants- and cultivating your unique horticultural identity. I want to spend what is left of my life fully exploring what makes me ME... and a large part of that comes, at least for me, through the art of gardening. And there is really no way to reconcile "low maintenance" with beauty. A great garden requires a tremendous amount of time, otherwise it will devolve into an invasive jungle.
As I see it, you must make mistakes, and build your garden from the ground up. Don't just get some landscaper to install their own vision. Their vision is often motivated by the bottom line and not some deeper personal aesthetic. I may be totally wrong, but I doubt any landscaper is going to put as much passion and love into someone else's home landscape as their own...
Of course, it is possible to have a close relationship with someone who deeply cares about your garden and is very committed to making it beautiful. I try to help my friends out when I can, but I'll always save my best most expensive plants for myself, lol. Also, I also tend to impose my vision/ aesthetic on my friends.
So I urge you to get over this idea of "buying" instantaneous beauty. Spend time outside pulling your own weeds and appreciating your own efforts. If you are just starting out I urge you to start small. Maybe one flower bed and just a few containers. Over time, you will develop the skill and confidence to tackle larger areas. Also, you will begin the process of forming life-long relationships with gardening, and your uniqueness will emerge. As you become more intimate with your plants, you will start to see them as your friends, and this will grow and grow until you have a huge symphony of relationships with which to look forward to spending time during each season of the year.