That is indeed a great question!!! I am a grower and I wonder the same thing. Maybe teaching?

Worn-out plant people go to seed.
Sorry. I just couldn't resist.
Maybe the best strategy is to develop a business that can afford to hire others to do the grunt work. At least, it's the only one I can think of.

HAHA. I know one farmers market vendor that is 79 years old and still doing it, not as much, but still growing. He has perninals and he plants the easier to harvest veggies.

There is big business in horticultural sales. Seed/plant brokerage, hardgoods (greenhouse supply) brokers. If you are inexperienced in that line of work, you cannot fudge it when dealing with your grower customers or they'll chew you up and spit you out. Therefore, experience in the field gives you a real advantage. It's your mind they want, and not your body.

That is one reason one doesn't take the easy way out when they're in the green industry growing side. For many years, when I quit for the night, I was hitting the books for certifications and attending courses or trade shows in off seasons. You really have to have something what sets you apart and whipping out credentials helps, even if you hiss and groan collecting them.

I don't know the answer to your question, but I had to respond anyway. Today was my first day back at work, after a furlough of several months. I'm in my mid-forties, worked my butt off today (it was surprisingly busy), & I know I'm going to be so sore tomorrow. But at this point, I wouldn't trade it-I love spring, seeing new plants come in, chatting w/ the customers, even unpacking pallets of stuff & lugging it around.

My boss (who is actually one of the coowners of the garden center) is such an inspiration to me. She's a few years older than I am, & can outwork anyone there. She's been going to a Crossfit gym for about 1 1/2 years now & she's stronger & has more endurance than most people half her age. I'm about ready to try it myself (although it's sort of like boot camp).

Realistically, an older (& hopefully wiser) person will have to make up for the loss of strength & endurance with increased knowledge, but we have a good contingent of older workers who know how to work both smarter & harder.

thistle, I've been through the same "spring training" as you. I can handle that - it's not the first few weeks of sore muscles that I'm afraid of. And I don't mind hard physical work. It's the more serious, chronic things like rotator cuff damage and tendinitis that have me concerned. My mid-40's body is not as durable as I had hoped it would be.

As we get older, we need to work wiser. Not all brawn, but brains. I've checked out areas for gardening with dis-abilities. Any tips from anywhere, helps.

"When your body is worn out"..... humm. We don't think it will ever happen to us until it actually heppens, but it sure does happen - it's inevitable. I was hopping around a squash court only about 5 or 6 year ago, but now at 65, getting on a treadmill only for 30 min. daily is a big deal. Once you get over the hill, down slope seems to get increasingly steeper.... ;-(

Since we accumulate knowledge and become wiser through experience, it is natural that we pass them on to less experienced people. Or, we may become smart enough to hire people to have them do most of physical labor.

There are few more choices I can think of;
One is to establish nichey expertise. One good xample is my wife. she is specialized in prunine Japnese maple tree. She mastered it through experience and self-learning, and become a real master. And, she is expensive now. (Come to think of it, she has always been expensive.... haha).
Another choice is what I am doing - to introduce something new. If you go and look at this Forum ÂÃ Professional ÂÃ Irrigation ÂÃ Electrolysis Water Agriculture, you will see one project I am introducing now. There are so many things we don't know in this world; every country has its own unique things and method. It is a real fun to introduce new things, and when and if it turns into a business, it would be even better.

Pace yourself. Figure out ways to not do it the same way. Change jobs every couple hours. If you work for someone else, convince them that it is not only good for the body but good for the group if people change jobs. Increases cross training, lifts morale.

I grow trees. In pots. The first day in spring after I've filled and mvoed 200-300 2 gallon pots I know it. But I do some of it kneeling, some of it sitting on a milk crate, some of it standing, and doing stretching exercises. Take your time. Think of motion as a tai chi exercise.

I'm 57 and still going at it.

It's a worry. I'm the groundskeeper/gardener at a small university. There's no budget for a strictly supervisory role. I've got to mow and rake and weed etc with a constantly churning list of student workers.

All I can do is arrange the grounds in ways that require less maintenance than more. But new construction keep that from being a final solution.

If you are in landscaping then after a number of years working in the local area you are by then an expert in what does or does not grow well throughout the community. It is knowledge more than labor that is key for the older person. Often they expand into growing a set number of plants for their own business and expanding this some more by growing extra plants to see into the markets and local nurseries. This is how many end up as commercial wholesale nurseries.

In my area the older landscaper hires a number of workers (knowing how to speak spanish helps in Texas) and instructs his workers to maintain or install plants correctly but rarely does any actual work himself. Mostly a role for an overseer who is the sole contact with the customer and does all the billing and employee management chores.

The real aim is to be so wealthy by the time you get too old to do the work that you can retire in style and do what you please.