Garden - reducing the work

Some really interesting replies to an interesting topic for me
so thanks to Esspee.
I'm with Destin on this one and regularly do yoga which in
turn helps me stay active , however since last year's heat wave
I've been looking to change my garden mainly to cut down on the watering as we had a hosepipe ban for a good few weeks and I began to struggle with the watering can! Its an exciting challenge, climate change and old age but gardening for me is my pleasure and keeps the old addage of 'use it or loose it'
alive and well.

I have a couple of acres, mostly grass. I have someone in to cut the paddock and most of the hedges but I am thinking of letting it grow wild and back to nature for the wildlife, looking into this more at the moment. Otherwise I am trying to make it easier and less time consuming. I agree that pots, although nice they are quite a lot of work.

Rewilding sounds lovely in a large garden as long as paths through it are cut regularly and native plants encouraged/introduced.
I tried that one year but being a town garden it didn’t look right. I still have bulbs and anemones coming through the grass in the spring as a reminder of that phase.

pat9, unfortunately, I've got nowhere with persuading them to reduce it. I could get the council to assess it, but that would cost me £500! If my back gets worse, I may have to get a gardener in to do it - it's so unfair!

Shropshirelass, I think wildflower meadows, cut just once a year, are lovely. Hedges, though, left untrimmed, soon become a row of trees!

This is my garden not particularly big but the bottom part is left for wildlife and a few months ago I seeded the front bit to be a bit of a lawn,not been touched yet as I think the seed takes awhile to root.I have a pond (wildlife not fish)and grey slate patio but I’m thinking of getting rid of some of the pots and also the slate needs re-grouting and cleaning up but I have a handyman who will do that....

Our house is about 20 years old and the garden isn't huge.
When we moved in there was lumpy chippings with dead shrubs around the edges, oh and some concrete thing in the middle.
So we took up chippings and put down turf. After years of struggling with lawn, we gave it up two years ago, and had artificial grass laid by professionals. We went for the medium quality, and it is marvellous.
A couple of borders but soil is poor as must be builders rubble underneath somewhere. We use a lot of containers and hanging baskets which can be as easy as you choose.
OH has built high troughs for people that can't bend down easily and these can be used for veg as well as flowers.

Mine is mostly lawn which I pay to have treated 4 times a year with weed killer and lawn feed. If you have a nice lawn you can get away with a lot of other things. The lawn is the first thing people notice about my garden and I get a lot of comments about how nice it looks.
I have one border running down the side of it. No shrubs as you’re having to forever prune them. I just have plants like bleeding hearts and fuchsias that come up very year, and just require once a year prune and tidy up.
The main maintenance job in my garden is the hedges, which up until last year I cut myself twice a year, but now I pay someone to do them for me. The front garden I turned over into car standing and had Resin bound surface which the water goes through but no weeds ! Expensive, but worth every penny.

I also invested in a lightweight battery lawnmower which is very easy to use

I started doing Pilates last year and I am amazed at the difference it has made to my back (I have arthritis in my lower back and shoulders). I have spent several hours this past week bending over beds and never once suffered pain. As I love working in my garden this means a lot to me.