Here are fifteen ways to get a gorgeous garden with the least possible effort, so you can spend the summer where you belong - in a deck-chair.

1. Choose plants weeds hate
Ground-hugging plants are ideal for this as they naturally suppress them. Scented, low-growing herbs like camomile and thyme, as well as periwinkle - are all good buys. Put them in borders and places weeds always take hold, like the gaps between paving. Squeeze weeds out by putting plants close together so there's no bare soil for them to grow in. The smaller and narrower your borders are, the less room weeds have to take hold, so reduce the size of big borders with gravel or paving.

2. Get colour effortlessly
Plants that hardly need any attention to look fabulous sometimes lack colour, so if you're planting box, rosemary or ornamental grasses, put the, in brightly coloured pots and they'll look good all the year round.

3. Prepare plants for a dry spell
Try mixing water-storing granules into the top 10cm of the soil. SaturAid includes a time-control fertiliser, which will keep plants nourished for up to six months. SaturAid can be purchased from garden centres nationwide.

4. Replace your lawn
Consider replacing the whole thing, or simply part of it, with gravel, paving or hardwood decking; they're all much easier to care for than grass. A total ban can make the garden look a bit stark, so soften edges by planting surrounding borders with low-maintenance plants or dot them around in containers.