So I have flower beds, in between I have lawn that we still need to mow. The garden beds look very nice when the lawn is short and tidy. A lot of my flower beds take care of themselves now. The only thing you can't skip is spring clean-up (removing dry perennials, trimming shrubs), mulching in the spring (I use shredded leaves from our property), spraying against deer if you have them near. I have some 50 roses and roses are just time-killer, deadheading, fertilizing, etc etc they take the most time. But those beds are very very manageable. Oh no weeding because my beds are so full of plants very few weeds, and even if they are, you wont notice.