Impossible-to-Kill Outdoor Plants

Real Simple

Looking for low-maintenance greenery? In this Brooklyn Grange video, discover the best impossible-to-kill outdoor plants that thrive with minimal care. Perfect for beginner gardeners or anyone short on time, these hardy picks can handle heat, drought, and a little neglect. From tough perennials to resilient herbs, learn which plants will bring life to your garden, patio, or balcony—no green thumb required!

Transcript

00:01Native plants are great for low-maintenance gardens because they don't require much attention.

00:06So you set them and forget them. It makes it easier on the gardener, it makes it easier on the environment.

00:11Milkweed is a great example of a plant that's hard to kill because it's native to many areas of the United States.

00:18It does a good job with the sun that it receives. It grows well with the rainfall that comes.

00:23It doesn't have to be watered when it's established. Sumac is actually edible. It has a nice sour taste.

00:28It is from the Northeast. It can tolerate low water conditions.

00:32You can use it as a substitution for lemons in your dishes.

00:35Some folks like to make a faux lemonade with this stuff and it makes it look like pink lemonade.

00:40We have many types of grasses that are hard to kill all over the United States.

00:44So this is Carex here, native to the Northeast. You don't have to mow it. You don't need to water it often.

00:50So it's a great alternative to a lawn. This is a nice native. It's called Coreopsis or tick seed.

00:55Once you plant it, it'll naturalize, meaning that it'll spread in a nice way.

00:59This one is just about done flowering. A trick that you can do with the tick seed is to cut off the spent flowers.

01:06It's called deadheading and you'll get another flush of flowers right after that.

01:10It's great for beneficial insects. You're going to plant it next to your veggie garden.

01:13It'll help bring those pollinators into the garden.

01:16Here in New York City, the tall buildings create lots of shade for our plants.

01:21Fortunately, there are a lot of plants that grow in the shade.

01:24Think of the bottom of a forest or in a canyon where there isn't much sun.

01:28Hosta, although not native, is a very hard to kill plant.

01:31You can grow it under trees in the shade of a building and you get these really nice textured leaves

01:37and a nice color without having to rely on the sun.

01:40This plant is a responsible plant to use because it's not going to grow out of hand.

01:44If you're using some non-natives in your area, they could take over.

01:48So be smart, ask questions and see how these plants actually grow before you plant them.

01:52Some common misconceptions of native plants is that they're ugly.

01:55Many gardeners like to go for the flashy, showy flowers, but a native plant will flower.

02:01So staggering your flowering dates will provide a garden that flowers throughout the season.

02:06The beneficial insects, bees, ladybugs, these will all be on your native plants and they'll be ignoring the roses.

02:14And have them have the zeros.

02:15Take into account for you.

02:16Take a gas effect.

02:17Take a gas effect.

02:18�

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