How can we make our yard easier to maintain?

Here is 17 low maintenance ideas - http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/how-to/g3023/landscaping-ideas-for-low-maintenance-yard/?slide=1 You don't mention the size of your yard but I hope you find these ideas useful.

Lot's of concrete!!! We live in a 55+ community with condos - and we have a deck and walk out that is paved down below our condo. Have lots of outdoor furniture, but NO GRASS!!! We put small rocks in the gardens - spray for weeds when necessary - and have planters with plants in them. Great for "older" people!!!

If your yard is small you could make it into a desertscape

With cactus low.maintainamce plants and small gravel and sad with walking stones throughout

That is beautiful and low upkeep. Or use a slowgrowing grass and lots of groundcover plantings that you just leave

That can even stop the need for mowing. A large patio area with cement or pavers will help too. Nice to use to sit outside and not much work. A professional landscaper could get any of these dome quickly

The expensive would give you years of carefree enjoyment of your yard

if money is no object, (or maybe a little) replace everything with artificial grass. looks the same , feels the same, and you can get it in different lengths, tall grass, about an inch and a half down to very short grass , like a golfing height as for the plants, any plants that you have now can be replaced with silk(fake plants) that you never have to feed them or wash them, and just rinse them of dirt every few weeks or so. and you can leave them in the pots too!!! they look just like the real thing too.....

Get rid of the lawn, plant native plants. Go for a "wild" look rather than a formal garden that is always neatly trimmed. Check with a local nursery about local plants.

our HOA wont allow ground cover instead of sod, I now realize, being over 65 that this is why seniors move to apartments. I don't want to give up my privacy or move into an over 55 community where all you hear is talk about our aches and pains, or watch ambulances coming in and out. All I can think of is to pay a gardener. Make sure you plants are perennials that come up year after year, like bulbs. We also have a swimming pool to maintain. Our children live in different states so it is up to us.

Look into xeriscaping. Also think about a low cost "mow and blow" type gardener to take care of basic maintenance. You can do the rest or pay per project.

See if one of your neighbors has a kid who will be able to mow for you for not too much money. Young kids who are too young to get a job will like to have picket money besides allowance. You could even hire eight and ten year olds for cheap to weed your gardens once in a while. I know that was my job from about six years old in my moms gardens. It doesn't take long to teach them what to pull and how to pull it, even the ones they may have to dig a little shouldn't be a problem. Even my four year old granddaughter likes to help me pull weeds and does a good job as long as she knows what is to be pulled. See if you can find someone and teach them how to do it and maybe they can even do it for other neighbors that feel the same as you do about going out in the heat!