When it comes to landscaping, I want plants that are easy to grow and maintain, so I don't spend a lot of time dragging out the garden hose, hauling bags of fertilizer around, pruning branches and then raking up the debris for the compost pile. And there's mowing the lawn every weekend during the growing season because all that water and fertilizer I use to make the grass lush and green also makes it grow like crazy.

We plant trees, shrubs and flowers to make our homes beautiful, of course, and according to the National Association of Realtors, a well-maintained landscape can increase your property value. But some plants take more work than others, and I'm ready for a break. The solution: low-maintenance plants that make landscaping easier.

Fortunately, there are plenty of great, low maintenance outdoor plants. You can find something for every part of your yard: flowers for sun-drenched beds and borders, no-mow groundcovers to replace the grass and berry-bearing plants that attract beautiful songbirds. Many bushes can work as privacy screens or hedges, and trees add shade or work as focal points when they're accented with uplights.

Read on for our list of the best low maintenance outdoor plants. Choose varieties that will grow and flourish in your hardiness zone, so you spend less time landscaping and more time enjoying what you're growing.

Abelia 'Kaleidoscope’ (Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope') shown here, lives up to its name, with small white flowers and leaves that change colors with the season. The evergreen foliage emerges yellow-gold on red stems and becomes orange-red in fall. This compact shrub matures at 2 to 3 feet high and 3 to 4 feet wide, so it makes a great low hedge, border or accent plant. It even works as a groundcover and in containers. Hardy in Zones 6 to 10, ‘Kaleidoscope’ takes full sun to part shade, tolerates drought and resists deer. It needs well-drained, slightly acidic soil and regular watering. Prune it in late winter or early spring, or remove any long, thin shoots whenever they appear.

Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) is deer resistant and deciduous, with thorny stems that make it a good foundation plant if you're concerned about home security. Once established, this nearly carefree, compact shrub is drought tolerant. We like these Sunjoy Tangelo landscaping plants for their bright orange leaves that turn chartreuse around the edges later in the season.

Some barberries are invasive, so they're banned in some areas. Check with your extension service office before you plant. Otherwise, plant barberry in the spring in part to full sun for the best foliage color, and give it moist, well-drained soil. Sunjoy Tangelo grows 3 to 4 feet high and wide and is hardy in USDA Zones 4 to 8. Prune to shape it up in the summer, if you want, and fertilize it in the spring after the last frost or when you see new growth. Mulch around the roots in fall, no matter what hardiness zone you're in, but in Zones 4 and 5, mulch it heavily after the first frost and pull back the mulch in spring.

Plant Crimson Fire fringe flower, a dwarf lorolpetalum, and you can practically forget about it. This dwarf shrub holds its ruby-red leaves year-round and opens clusters of strappy, electric-pink flowers in spring. It stays compact, at 4 feet high and 4 to 5 feet wide. These low-maintenance outdoor plants are ideal to grow in masses, in borders, around foundations or in containers. Want a different color? You can also find lorolpetalums with magenta, cream or reddish-purple flowers.

Lorolpetalums need at least four hours of direct sun each day but prefer cool morning sun and afternoon shade in areas with hot summers. Grow them in loose, rich, slightly acidic soil that drains easily. If you soil is dense or clay-like, work in some bagged topsoil, or add compost or peat moss to sandy soil. Lorolpetalums tolerate drought once they're established but, like many plants, need regular water for the first year. Apply an all-purpose slow-release fertilizer in late spring and midsummer. If temperatures drop below 0 degrees, mulch them or protect them with shrub wraps or burlap. Let the flowers fade before you prune.

Bring monarchs, swallowtails and other bright butterflies to your landscape with butterfly bushes (Buddleia). Some gardeners dislike these shrubs for their sprawling growth habit and invasive tendencies; they spread easily by dropping seeds. But newer, mostly sterile cultivars are available with flower colors like pink, violet, red, white, purple and orange. We like ‘Miss Molly,’ pictured here, a noninvasive butterfly bush that tops out at 4 to 5 feet tall. It has a more refined growth habit than other Buddleias, so it's great for a low-maintenance landscape.

Butterfly bushes are hardy in Zones 5 to 9 and need fertile, well-drained soil. Give them full sun and use them in perennial borders, island beds or wherever their loose, arching stems won’t detract from your landscape design. Prune them for size at anytime, or cut them to the ground in late winter and they'll put out vigorous new growth in spring.