Planting native plants for your region is also a good way to reduce maintenance work

Another tip from my experience: I live in a hot/dry climate and had inconsistent and discouraging results the first year. The game-changer was using timers to water automatically. And the drip line is actually more efficient–we use significantly less water than our neighbors even though we grow way more. Auto-watering is the full trifecta: lazy, efficient, and effective.