I have to agree with nandina. My next door neighbor (adore her!) bought her house thinking it would be lovely to NOT have a yard to mow. She has mulched paths and perennial beds with low maintenance plants. It is pretty when it is taken care of. She doesn't travel, but is a busy realtor, running around here and there. Her yard has gone crazy. The beds are full of crabgrass; the creeping groundcover which was once just in one area is now everywhere! It has gone nuts and she just doesn't have the time to maintain it. Mowing a lawn would be a piece of cake compared to what she has to do. Personally, I prefer the whole "no grass" scenario -- but I LOVE to garden and I am out there all the time, whenever I can. Even low maintenance plants require a certain amount of housekeeping. Whatever you do, be it keep the grass -- or replace with something else -- it will need love and attention! If you really are gone a lot, you will need someone to help -- either a lawn mowing service, or a gardener. I hope that doesn't sound discouraging! :)

Thanks, Joepyeweed. I've browsed the sites some, and I plan to browse some more. . .One thing I'm doing differently, it seems, is planting the "prairie" as I would a flower bed. I'm putting down layers of newspaper, cardboard, mulch and planting the grass and flowers into the bed. I plan to do most everything from seed, but in flats. I'll do a little bit each year. This way is probably more work, but I'd rather do it this way because I won't be there to go through the mowing routines, and especially because my parents will want it to look at least something like a garden flower bed in the beginning. Because there's a seawall, they don't really need buffer vegetation--at least until the wall collapses as it has in the past. I'm desperately looking for someone in the Southeast who's planted grassland. I'd especially like to know how little bluestem does down here (it's in its range). It SHOULD work because most of the southeast used to be a longleaf pine savanna. The main grass in that part of Ga (and down here in FL) was wiregrass, but that's difficult to deal with. Bluestems, muhly, and other grasses grew with the wiregrass though, so I'm thinking it should work. . . Thanks again.

As you consider plants, do your research. Look for plants that are drought tolerant (less watering), and slow growing (less pruning). These characteristics can make a big difference. However, you need to realize that there are not any NO maintenance plants. Trees are very low maintenance in general. They need lots of space, obviously, but if chosen well, they give more bang for the buck than any other plant. Liriodendron (tulip poplar): great shade tree, very fast grower to maturity. Attractive year round. Drought tolerant. Minuses: the roots grow shallowly, so it can be somewhat difficult to grow other things under them, like ground covers, for example. Still, I think they're one of the best. Oaks: Some are very fast growers like Pin Oaks. Some are distressingly slow, like White Oaks. Crepe Myrtles: Disease resistant (except mildew and that is easily prevented by choosing the right varieties). I have never known them to be attacked by insects. When pruned well (PLEASE! prune well! :) they are one of the best for the south. They have an extremely long bloom time, and are VERY drought tolerant. Their winter form (when pruned well) is as beautiful, if not more beautiful than their summer form. minuses: BUT, they do require a fair amount of pruning to keep suckers cut off at the base, and to train them into a graceful shape, especially their first 2 to four years of life. Vitex agnus: beautiful, blue blooms, lovely foliage. They need a fair amount of pruning, though less so if you grow them as large shrubs instead of in tree form. Shrubs are, as louisianagal said, far lower maintenance than perennials, but again, they are not No maintenance. Raphiolepis indica (Indian Hawthorn): A great evergreen shrub. When given adequate space, (They easily get five to six feet wide. Give it to them) They are very close to no maintenance. They are neat and tidy all year long. Mine only need a light shearing once a year. Even less in dry years. The spring bloom is nice, but short lived. These plants make great bones in the garden. Encore azaleas: other than deadheading and a yearly feeding, these are very easy and reliable. They take more sun than the traditional azaleas, and their late summer to fall bloom is long and invaluable. I second the motion for Nandinas. They are one of the most under appreciated shrubs, in my opinion. They look wonderful in every season: beautiful lacy textured evergreen foliage, white spring blooms, drop dead gorgeous fall and winter color, and then there's the gorgeous clusters of red berries in winter. What more could you ask? On top of that they are drought tolerant, disease and pest resistant, and grow in full sun to full shade. Their one flaw? Most of them sucker. Some more than others, the old fashioned, large ones being the worst. I like Firepower too (no berries). I also love Harbour Dwarf because it makes berries. Compacta is a lovely larger form. Hydrangeas are fabulous for shade in the south. Endless Summer is particularly wonderful. I have Blushing Bride too, but it is being temperamental about blooming, so the jury is still out for me. I just purchased Twist and Shout. We'll see if it lives up to the ES name. I am also growing White Out for the first time this year. The snow white blooms are amazingly beautiful. I can tell you that it scorches if it gets more than a few hours of morning sun. Too soon to say for sure, but so far, it's a winner. Other than deadheading and watering, hydrangeas that are planted in the right location are virtually maintenance free. Korean Boxwood. This is a great plant that hardly anyone uses. I don't understand why. It is slower growing in the beginning, but that is a real advantage after the first three years or so, as it only needs shearing once a year. It will also grow in full sun to nearly full shade. Other really good ones: Hollies: there are so many good ones! Viburnums: look beyond snowball bushes. They are great shrubs. Arborvitaes (Thuja): the one called Emerald is excellent. Tall, skinny spires are in short supply here in the south. This is a great one. Camellias, both japonicas and sasanquas, Roses (all these are self cleaning, a very important attribute) Knockout Roses, Oh So Easy Paprika Rose, Nearly Wild Rose (very thorny), Cassie Rose, Carefree sunshine. All roses do best with a light pruning after each flush of blooms. Typically, I prune 3 times: in February, late May, and Mid July to early August. None of these are ever sprayed at my house. They all bloom from early spring to hard frost. Perennials require a fair amount of work, but some less than others. The trick is to find plants with good looking foliage, a good bloom time (anything more than a month is great), a moderate speed of spreading, and that are disease and pest resistant. REad in the forums. You can find all kinds of lists. Just be sure to pay best attention to the lists that are generated by people in your zone. Perennials, more than any other, vary wildly in their performance from one zone to another. Keep in mind that although the Pacific Northwest has the same winter hardiness zones as the Southeast, summer performance is dramatically different. Note: Daylilies are one of the most dependable, and longest blooming perennials for the south. They are also the ones that require the greatest amount of maintenance to grow them well. Three feedings a year, division every 3 or 4 years at least, daily deadheading and deadscaping during bloom season, and deadleafing after bloom time. I grow them. I love them. I limit how many, so I can care for them. I highly recommend that you get a copy of The Southern LIving Gardening Book and read it carefully. Don't buy anything that this book doesn't say will grow in your zone. It has detailed info on nearly any tree, shrub, perennial, annual, fruit or vegetable that you can think of. If it's not listed, don't even bother. It very probably won't grow anywhere in the south. And speaking of books....I'm done! (Can you tell that I love plant passionately? :)

Greetings, I am far from expert compared to the others here who will no doubt wade in soon enough to provide some advice but just a couple of thoughts that came to mind... 1. Geraniums might work on the northern side. They generally require very little pruning and can neatly occupy about a 1m tall x 1.5m width. Constantly flowering you might not have much of a perfume (unless you crush the leaves as you pass them) but you'd have some visual beauty. 2. Given you're obviously not able to bend or stand, could you buy standard roses at the appropriate height which would allow you to do most of the maintenance and then your husband could get involved once per year as required? I'm thinking of the small neat "balls on a stick" effect that it's possible to get through semi-regular pruning. If you bought them at the appropriate height for your wheelchair (easy to judge when you go shopping for them) then you should be able to do 99% of the the maintenance whilst seated? The final height of the plant would be determined already so you'd not need to be concerned they'd be the wrong size ultimately. 3. You might consider eliminating the fishbone fern (hey, you said your husband would help sometimes!) and laying down some serious weed-barrier (even thick newspapers would work) covered by gravel / white stones / woodchips that requires no ongoing maintenance. Your pots could then sit on this area and you'd have them as a feature without the weed problem. Hope that helps...