If I just planted 4 things in new flowerbed....

[Farawayfromhere]

Complete novice, and have 4 kids and a dog. I would like to make the garden look prettier and we have an overgrown flower bed full of ugly 1990s shrubs which I am going to remove.

Could I do something like: verbena, lavender, grasses and some of those big daisies? Maybe some mint?

And then in addition just sprinkle some wildflower seeds and hope they grow?!

I would really like something low maintenance as I work 4 days a week and am busy with kids the rest of the time.

We also have a veg patch and I have previously grown beans & courgettes successfully.

Please can you give me any useful tips for a pretty, low maintenance flowerbed (or if necessary tell me that this is impossible)? What should I prioritise?

Its a sunny flowerbed with some shady bits. Oh and of course we want to encourage bees!

Do you know what type of soil you have?
Eg don't plant lavender if you've got heavy clay.
Don't plant azaleas or rhododendrons in it either.

The idea is that the plants grown through the cardboard as it rots down but the weeds don't.
Daffodils bulbs did came through my weed membrane but the weeds didn't. So maybe it would worked.

Calendula. They flow one year but boy do they flower. Mostly oranges and creams. Magnificent for very little effort. The seeds germinate within a few days, if you sew them now you'll get flowers up until October!

Cosmos dwarf variety. Same as above. Usually pinks and whites.

Both will be big colour and display for minimal effort but only last the one year. You sprinkle seeds each year for this, but they are fairly cheap.

If you plant mint, you'll have nothing but mint

Peonies! Glorious flowers but easy to look after, they come back year after year.

Also geraniums (not pelargoniums). You can get a huge variety of flowers and leaves. They are low growing and they will spread themselves out along the front of the bed.

Do not plant mint!! You'll never get rid of it, it sends out long tendrils and is generally a complete pain. It's hard to even confine it to a pot without it escaping!

Wallflowers are easy to grow and pretty.

My go to for low maintenance if you don't have clay is lavender, rosemary, wild geraniums, salvia. Keep a big shrub or two, just prune to the right size. Absolutely brilliant for bees, never needs watering.

Alliums are an absolute must, plant some giant ones in Autumn, you won’t be disappointed. I have a bed with roses, alliums, peonies and salvia… apart from a bit of cutting back and mulching it’s like an instant garden every year. So low maintenance and beautiful !