I agree about never stopping working in the garden. It's my salvation. The sunshine, birds, kids and neighbors going by, doggies and my kitticat. It's just that not as much weeds as grass cropping up in flower beds. When I try to pull it out, it comes up with long stolons and if there's any left they come up again. Your suggestions are right. I've used same method and it has worked well. So, I'll just continue. I think my expectations were of some magical solution to clearing my flower and vegetable beds quickly without much sweat. Can you hear me laughing? Probably all of Toronto has.

I can relate; I spent several hours this weekend digging quack grass and lawn grass out of my flowerbeds. I don't think it's possible to totally eradicate it, only control it somewhat.

Somebody who can relate to damn weeding. Thank you! Last night I went to a meeting of Agincourt Garden Club, and spoke to another member, about plants of course, and during conversation found out this person was 89 years old and still gardening. She said she does planting and some weeding, but does not cut grass. I guess there's something for all of us to learn. She is vibrant and funny and good company, We should all hope to be like her.

I use 4x4 posts sunk in at ground level both as a barrier to the grass and a mowing strip. I also mulch all of my beds with shredded cedar and consequently do very little weeding. I have flower beds running on all but one side of the property. I stroll around everyday because I like to be out amongst the flowers and pull whatever I see - all at a leisurely pace and with very little effort. I spend less than an hour a week looking after all of the beds including the vegetable garden. There I put down the lawn clippings between the rows - makes for a nice barefoot amble as well!

I'm 76 and I still do a lot of gardening. I have many beds but few weeds. In the spring when things are just coming up and it's a calm wind day I take my big sheet of cardboard and my roundup out to the flower beds. The grass is up too and it gets sprayed with round up and any weeds I see. I use the cardboard to protect my flowers from over-spray. I have a barrier so the grass doesn't creep in too much.Round-up only kills what it hits. I do plant annuals that I grow in my greenhouse a couple of weeks later with no ill effects. I do walk my flower beds a few times a week and pull any weed I see. When I first started gardening an old gardener told me this saying--A weed left to go to seed results in a thousand next year.

The secret to gardening when you are older is to pace yourself. I never work longer than an hour before I take a break. I fill an insulated thermos with the drink of my choice and set it on my deck in the shade. I work for an hour and then take a half hour break and have a drink and a cool relax in the shade to refresh myself. It may take longer to get things done and I am pleasantly tired in the end but not dead tired.

I will never give up gardening. It is my exercise and my passion. In other words it keeps me in shape and living. I can't imagine just sitting around waiting to die.

Thank you so much for a lovely write up. It makes a lot of sense. Good advice. Much appreciated!

I should add I;m 73, soon to be 74. I ride my bike, ( which I only learned to ride at 50, thanks to my kids). People are sometimes surprised to see me riding. I respond with "I'm old, not dead", and many agree with me.

Weed smart. That means first target the weeds that are about to go to seed, then the weeds that are crowding seedlings and plants that need the nutrients and water most. Target weeds threatening your most valuable plants - maybe the ones you are counting on to feed your family? Weed when the soil is moist and use the tool and technique that disturbs the soil the least ((i.e., use two fingers of one hand to hold the soil in place while you extract the weed smoothly with the other.) Know which weeds it is essential to remove all of the root, most of the root, and which it's not necessary (It would be helpful for someone knowledgeable to make a list of these please!). Know the weeds that can be tolerated or even appreciated as guests, until they misbehave. Do poison ivy all at one time, scrubbing down with that orange laundry soap afterward and cleaning all the tools. Do any roundup all at once, wearing latex gloves to use a fingertip to apply it to just the leaves you want. Never leave a vacuum for weeds to reappear. Either plant it or mulch it. The strategy I've given here is for an overwhelmed gardener with a large property. An alternative strategy is to pick a small area and do a meticulous job before moving to the next. I do this in my moss garden and find it very therapeutic to lose myself in a couple of square feet of earth for an hour.

Sometimes I use a low folding plastic step stool I bought at KMart. I use a bucket that I empty into a wheelbarrow.

But what would really improve my efficiency is the perfect tool apron. Who has one and where did you get it? I'd even make it if I knew what it should be. Or are pockets in a smock or pants better?

I understand the impasse you are in but gardening is a blessing in disguise as it brings stress relief, better mental health, and is the best exercise possible especially for elderly. I always encourage my mother in involving herself in gardening . I too faced this weed problem in my garden I sought the help of custom garden bed services, In the Back yard. Just follow the tips I am sharing with you. use electric garden cultivator to till the soil and eradicate grass roots. Carefully remove all existing grass and roots. Suppress all the grass with mulch. use organic weed killer or boiling water.(be mindful to use organic grass killer products). Use salt or vinegar.

Kitasel-- I wouldn't want a tool apron. I think it would impede your movements when you are working. I do have a picking apron however that comes in handy for weeds, dead heads or picking vegetables. It is simply a long bib apron that is folded up at the bottom and stitched up from the bottom in 2 places to make 3 pockets.It hangs on the back of my kitchen door and I put it on every time I go out to my flower beds or the veggie garden

My hand tools hang in my garden shed and I have a basket with a handle nearby. When I am going out to work I load up my basket with the tools I might need and off I go. This system works well for me.

Yugoslava, I will be 79 in September, although I have slowed down to a crawl and not very agile anymore I will never give up my garden, it's what keeps me going. I might be sore when I come in but never in a bad frame of mind.

I know what you mean about couch grass, once you have it you will never get rid of it, if one little piece of stolen is missed away it goes again. Even after I cleared all the plants out of one bed, pulled every bit of couch grass I could find, rototilled it every few days for over a month. I replanted and it was great for a couple of years but then that damn couch grass was back, came in under the fence from a neighboring yard.

I have one large bed I've dedicated to vegetables, two years ago I decide to try the no dig method, I cleared the bed of most of the weeds, spread some sea soil and covered it with a thick layer of straw. In the spring I added more straw and planted tomatoes, pole beans, sea kale and a few other things. I only had to pull the few oats that germinated, had a great harvest. This spring I added more straw and planted it again.

I have a lot of gravel paths, come summer I have several pieces of carpet I move around, leaving for a couple of weeks, then, on a hot sunny day the carpet is lifted and the sun fries what's left of the weeds. This I do in the decorative part of my garden.Down in my back 40 (forty steps from the back door) where the greenhouse is and a few more raised beds I have for vegetables I have started laying done roofing shingles over the gravel paths which so far has really cut down on the weeding. I also invested in a weed torch which I used on my patio made up of left over bricks and other assorted pavers. I used to sit and weed in between the pavers but now just buzz over it with the weed torch.

I was out of commission again this summer, NOTE: an ice pack is now my best friend. Needless to say I have a lot of work ahead of me, when a garden is unattended for a couple of months especially in the growing season it goes to rack and ruin in a hurry.

I had my hubby make me what I call a steadying tool, really handy. Made out of a replacement handle and a piece of rebar. Great for balance when trying to step in around perennials without trampling anything, stops me from (unintentionally) moving the wrong way, great for bending down to pull a weed without straining your back. Also great for steadying oneself when working on a slope or uneven ground. In fact I have several of these in permanent locations in place of handrails around the garden, works a treat.

My garden is what keeps me going, so it's not looking it's best right now, it's still my little piece of heaven, weeds and all. In fact that is what I named my garden :).

Thank you so much for writing "aftermidnight". I'm glad I started this post, so many people have contributed to it. I find it inspiring and makes me feel good to know that I can continue gardening for a long time to come.