Pretty simple

Like many other aspects of life, gardening has become loaded with too many choices in recent years.

That has led to a cornucopia of great plants but also to gardens that are inherently more fussy and demanding.

Tree tips

By scaling back the number of plants, especially perennials and annuals, we can tone down the landscape without making it dull.

If you take out a tree, as landscape designer Gordon Hayward points out, you don't have to replace it. Maybe, for example, you have created too many flowerbeds, you should return one or two to the lawn.

Here are some other ways to simplify.

Editing: Don't be afraid to take out elements that don't add anything to the garden.

Landscape architect Katia Goffin recalls a garden where a flagstone patio needed resetting but was the wrong shape and interfered with the lines of the garden. It was removed.

Pots: People tend to have too many small pots on their stoops and patios. Replace them with fewer, large containers to unclutter an area and give it focus.

“Two beautiful pots, with eye-catching plants on either side of the front door would do a lot,'' Hayward says.

Plant removal: Simplifying also means removing high-maintenance plants or avoiding them in a new project.

Larry Weaner, whose company in Glenside, Pennsylvania, is known for its sustainable landscape designs, has a checklist of the elements to banish:

• Perennials that need dividing every few years.
• Plants that need staking.
• Plants prone to insect and disease problems.
• Plants that require more rainfall than normal to flourish.
• Plants that require constant trimming and pruning to keep them in their allotted space.

So the message is: Keep it simple!