I completely understand. And I'm jealous. ; )

yepp,

here also

gratulation to your cleaned slate

with an iffy ellbow, lack of time (and stamina and energy sometimes) I took a good hard look at reality ,

and put up a note on some virtual blackborad at the local university,

the response was overwhelming

tomorrow first trial/ appointment with a student who has a veggi plot of his own and helps his gran in the garden wit the heavy stuff -

I thougt great so he does not mind taking directions/ orders from older women ;-)

if all works well, he can work through all the back log of the last two years -

probably done in 5 weeks...

the patch of lawn which I wanted to plant/ sow since aahhm

digging up cull-worthy perennials (the tough ones like Hemerocallis fulva, ditch lily)

shovel prune left overs of an ugly hedge,

and then some,.

really looking forward to tomorrow,

yep, help or money for help is a good tool as well

The only chore I pay for now is the pruning of the tall privet hedges along the road. I try my best to stay indoors and not supervise. Sometimes they leave without asking for my inspection or fail to take all the debris away, so I steal a peek from around the side of the garage. ha

gardengal - send that guy my way please...! :-)

I'd love to do this. Last year I realized as well that I'd spent more than 2 weeks on spring cleanup, during a season when I am really too busy to devote the time. I had knee surgery 2 years ago, and can't spend that much time on them anymore, and can't do it squatting or bent over either. I'd "sneak" somebody in, but my husband retired last year, and I don't know when I could do it. I hired someone to lay 15 stepping stones last year, he said he'd do it, and it didn't get done. Instead, he totally rebuilt the deck. Nice, but as I slog through the mud, I really wanted those stepping stones. He would clean up the garden too, but then I'd still just have to finish, because it would still have hours left of work to do.

I have two budding teenage boys and I plan on wearing them out. I can barely do anything anymore. I tried to help move a piece of furniture yesterday, and (no lie) I got light-headed! My arms are like spaghetti. My back is like peanut brittle (emphasis on the brittle part), and my endurance is a dream of the past.

I’ve got six more years of homeschooling. Until then I’m sort of bound by the schedule of a student. Hoping I can make it. Just six more years. And then at least April, May, September, October, and November will be my own.

Great story, gal. In the words of Blanche DuBois, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers".

tj

I knew you folks would appreciate what a boon this is :-) Every day as I walked through my garden to get to my car I'd stress out about how disheveled it looked and how it was getting later and later in the season and with still so much just basic clean up to do, it could be weeks before the garden was actually gardenable!! When I got home this afternoon, I just stood there for a few minutes and admired how clean and tidy everything looked and I could actually see where the new plants needed to go!! It was a revelation!! I can't wait to get out there when I have a few spare hours and actually get some stuff in the ground.

It doesn't seem like all that long ago that I tended my modestly sized but overly dense and complicated old garden all by myself. But then I remember that I downsized and left that garden (and the house) because it was simply too much effort for me to maintain :-) I despair a bit that even my tiny current garden can be such a chore.........but then I have had to deal with clearing all manner of invasives before I could even get one plant in the ground. Yesterday's removals included a grouping of ill-advised and poorly placed cotoneasters which had taken over a corner and were well beyond my ability to grub out!

Jose and his crew are really worth their weight in gold. Not only is he the most skilled and knowledgeable landscape contractor I have ever had the privilege to work with - his implementation of my designs make me look so much more talented than I think I really am - but their work ethic is superb. They are fast, thorough and with excellent follow through. Not for one second was I concerned about going off and leaving Raoul to his own devices all day. These guys really know their stuff!!

And the best part is that this is all done as a professional courtesy - I could not afford to hire them on my own. That degree of skill and service comes with a hefty price tag that is beyond my meager budget.

I have started hiring out occasional jobs as the difference between my garden plans and the ability of my body to accomplish things within reasonable time has widened as I have aged. A couple of my former students were looking for some extra cash, and last fall worked with me to distribute three truckloads of manure over the veggie garden and did a bunch of trimming back of plants like phlox and peonies that I really want to get pruned back before the snow started. Well worth the cost!

So nice for you to have a skilled gardener for a day as a thank you for the work you send their way!

Raoul sounds like a gem. That sounds wonderful to come home and find it all done. The only help I have is a gentleman who edges and mows the lawn for the last 15 years, and I just got word that he's retiring. The search is on for lawn help. I've never found anyone I'd trust in the flower beds. I have too much stuffed in there that could look like weeds to someone else. But as the years go by I do have less energy and more aches. Not fair!

What a nice treat, and well deserved I'm sure. I'm never completely convinced by people who say they just love working in the garden, for as much as I love mine I'd much rather sit with a drink looking at it than be lying inside with a bottle of tylenol and a heating pad after I've gone a little too far with the digging or or raking. Sure there's a ton of satisfaction when it's done but it should always bring you joy, and sometimes I look at all the work with something that's a little less than enthusiastic.

Last year I started shovel pruning a few things that looked just fine but didn't pass the "it still thrills me' test. A few miscanthus went (hate trimming them in the spring), a few foundation plantings went (more pointless trimming), and a bunch of self-sown stuff that was just too much of a good thing. Today I was eyeing all the daffodils in need of division. Maybe I could stand to lose a few.

That's wonderful! It's great you work with folks who extend professional courtesy, and sounds like they did a terrific job :0)

I've said it before, but it does bear repeating: The most important tool in the toolbox is the checkbox.

Now I'll have to start adding to that -- "especially as you get older"...

I've noticed this myself lately. Just don't have the stamina I used to, and I work at a slower pace than I used to. Add to that a hip injury, for which I finally had surgery and was feeling so good post surgery, I over-did my workouts and jacked up my foot, had to wear a boot for 2 months. Now my knees tend to ache post exercise because my gait changed secondary to the foot injury. DOES THIS EVER END? At least I'm much better off than last year with my hip. I did spend about half the day yesterday out in the veggie plot weeding and working on the paths, and I'm not sore. But, yea - can't do all-day marathons anymore.

Can you please tell Jose and his crew that I may have a little job or two. I make good cookies and wicked ice tea. ; ) Enjoy playing in your tidy garden GG.

How wonderful! To start with a ‘cleaned up garden’...only in my dreams lol.

I agree Sandy, what a gem!

Looking out at my mess that I haven’t even attempted to clean yet... thanks to Mother Nature, will take lots of time and energy to get were you are.

Like many others have stated, my stamina just isn’t what it used to be either.

But I am still able, and I will get it done!

Just not sure when...with this crazy weather. There is more snow predicted this week...... grrrrrr!

last july i told dh to get the tractor out and level all the beds i just can't take the heat anymore and the bermuda had taken all the pleasure out of working on the beds... he immediately went to the phone and called up a guy we'd used once to trim up our 36 live oak trees, we'd been happy with his work and felt comfortable giving him a try...it took a couple of weeks but he and his crew showed up an cleaned all the beds including lifting every plant and removing the bermuda bit by bit......then replanted everything and mulched it all.....here it is mid April in south texas, and my beds are still pristine.....i did get a couple of yards of compost 6 or so weeks ago and dh and i spread it all ourselves i walk the yard several times a day and if i see a glimmer of grass i get it out....i've planted many plants and even built a new bed and i couldn't be happier out piddling round in the yard.... good help every once in a while is so so wonderful..... on the other hand my friend down the street is still determined to do all her own work and i saw yesterday that she is failing miserably....yet will not call anyone (and could very easily afford it)...it is absolutely sad.....

How much of "clean-up" is stuff that can be left in the garden? I'm hoping that as the garden grows I'll see certain things as not requiring clean-up. For a while, "cleaning up" was merely a coping mechanism to help me feel like I was getting a handle on a run-away garden. Have any of you reached a point where leaves fall where they may, certain weeds are tolerated, etc?

My dad gave me the best example of old age I've heard. He had to wear a brace type of thing on his hand because he hurt his pointer finger (pulled something in the joint) taking his socks off. Yes, for the elderly the mere task of disrobing is fraught with obstacles.

To his credit, he was taking his socks of by hooking his finger through the top of the sock and twisting as he pulled it off his foot. It was the twisting that did him in.

How ironic that by the time I reach the point in life where gardening is something I can enjoy more, the body hurts more. I had to move a piece of furniture yesterday with help from five other people and today my lower back hurts. Let's just say I'm being extra careful when I take my socks off now.

Zippity, what a nice husband! Give him a pat on the back for us.

I can sure relate to this topic. Back in the day I dug (with just a shovel and hoe) our large vegetable garden, pulled weeds by hand, and prepared and froze all our vegetables for the winter, mowed our large yard with a hand mower, in addition to doing all the work that our horses entailed (fence building and mending, bathing and brushing 4 large animals on a daily basis) and I was never tired. The house was spotless and dishes and laundry were always done. I worked for ten years at a plywood mill. It was grueling physical labor, yet (at least in the early years) it invigorated me.

Fast forward to now. The Hubbs and I had a seamless division of labor going in retirement. He did the snowblowing and mowing of our acreage, while I used a snow shovel in winter and trimmed with battery powered string trimmers and a hand mower, and tended the gardens in summer. He did the grocery shopping while I did the cooking. Then he got sick.

He had surgery to remove melanomas on his leg early in March. So with him out of commission, I assumed all the tasks, including an abbreviated version of snow clearing with only a shovel. (I don't know how to operate the snowblower, and probably couldn't with my bad knee.) Normally I shovel paths for the dogs in the back yard while he does the driveway and walking paths for us across the meadow as well as paths around the house, with the snowblower. Snow clearing was cut down to just our wide driveway, a path for the generator cart in the side yard in case we lost power, and a single circular path for the dogs. But with just me, the snow shovel, and bengay, it was an onerous task. On about the 3rd blizzard with the drive about 1/3rd shoveled, a couple enterprising kids showed up with snow shovels looking for work and I was indebted and delighted to take them up on their offer to finish the drive and the generator path. They possessed the rare gift of listening and following instructions, and did a perfect job of it in record time. They asked for $15 and I paid them $60. It was well worth it. On the day of the 4th snowstorm, a good Samaritan came along with a plow on his pickup truck and moved the drift left by the town plow.

It was too late this year to get a professional plowing service to come. They were all booked up. I'm thinking about having the driveway paved this summer (so that a snow plough won't tear up all the gravel) and adding our name to a professional plowing service next winter, leaving us with only the walkways to clear.

I'm also realizing that at some point we may need to turn the lawn mowing over to a professional. Again I'm not good with mechanized machinery, so the lawn tractor is out of my realm.

In a perfect world I would hire domestic help to take over the housework too, but I would need to declutter all the surfaces in preparations for a cleaning person to do their thing, and decluttering is 9/10ths of the work so...

To make a long story short, yes I need and appreciate help!

Deanna, absolutely most of what is "garden waste" is actually valuable mulch/fertilizer. I leave a good part of my downed leaves, dead grasses, and the like, and Claire on these forums does much the same. Your point is well made and well taken.

I remove anything diseased in fall, and much of the coarser debris and matted leaves at this time of year where it interferes with plant growth or just bugs me. In some areas I usually just leave or mulch over less coarse material, and in steep beds, I leave everything since I don't want to be walking on the slope any more than needed. In those areas the dense plantings will cover the previous year's leftovers and so all I do is a once or twice annual weeding. Whatever I remove gets composted and returned to the beds in that form, a much more even, finished look.

Hmmm... it seems that a lot of us are now at ‘that certain age’ stage :-). I am increasingly thinking about hiring out some outdoor work. DH is older than me - but healthier - and doesn’t want to consider it yet...Men...!

We only remove tall, tough stems in the fall and anything diseased or prone to disease. Fallen leaves are left in the garden beds (with ones that fall on the lawn or paths raked into beds) to ‘compost in place’. Some people would consider it messy-looking but the plants and soil seem to like it and it gets hidden fairly quickly once things get growing. (You can see what some of it looks like in the ‘I spy...’ thread I posted.) Most weeding is done by just pulling any weeds I see when walking around. But the garden here is relatively large and there are a couple of weeks in spring and fall when it’s starting to feel like too much work! There is very little grass left so lawn mowing only takes DH 15-20 minutes to do. But if he couldn’t do it, I couldn’t do it for him. I’m also useless in the heat of the summer so he does most of the deadheading and any hand-watering needed in drought conditions. I wouldn’t let most ‘landscape maintenance’ companies near my garden! I would want someone who actually gardens. I was searching on-line yesterday, looking for a local true garden maintenance business and think I found one finally. I’ll be checking on them a couple of time this summer to see if they stay in business as they look like a possibility if/when we come to the point of definitely needing help in the garden.

My SIL started doing garden maintenance a couple of years ago to supplement income as she has kids approaching college age. It's a great job for her, as she is a bit younger than I and without the joint issues, and she is an expert gardener with many years experience and a great eye. She is in an area with a high percentage of seasonal homes and has just a few clients. She can work her hours around her other job (along with the client's schedule) so it's a good thing for her and them. She does weeding, deadheading and other typical maintenance along with planting annuals for color or new acquisitions. Being a well-trained, responsible adult, I am sure that she is well worth whatever she charges her clients.

I think most areas could use folks who do this kind of work, but I so far have just hired out the big tasks that require more physical labor in a short amount of time than I can do at this point.

update

met with the student who could help with the heavy stuff in my alottment,

he was in time, in a nice and reassuring way average, friendly, interested, dug in an impressive speed and after like 2-3h I asked when he could come next week...

the woman I share an office with asked about him (mentioned my plans before at a coffee break), and sounded enviouse because her DH refuses to hire help and promises to "do all that stuff", since 2 years she is waiting for a small paved path to be re-built...

men, at least, some of them...;-)

(my DH gave me a hand when I asked and moved some stone slabs to another corner, almost threw his back out, and I promised myself then not to ask him again for really heavy lifting, yep, it`s been a while since we were twenty-something....)

It is amazing, the whole weekend I was in an extremly good mood and noticed then what a load had been lifted off my shoulders- I am calmly optimistic now that this season all those "extra projects" and nasty corners will be cleared,

I even allow myself to fantasize about a batch of Eremurus which I considered for the edited perennial border since, ahm, 2 years...

do you know those penny-drop-moments' WHY haven`t I done that last season?

apart from that I`m determined to streamline the garden for low maintenance, no foufou-plants, paved paths and some paved lawn edging, and with the aditional help, I hope to get all the slow but persistant weeds like creeping buttercup before they flower...

have a nice week everyone,

bye, Lin

and here a pic for all the snow dwellers or frost ridden among you - the Darwin hybrid tulips popped open on the weekend

Sounds great Lin! I, too, have been inspired by this thread to look seriously at trying out some garden help... I found one local company on-line that sounds like a reasonable possibility. DH is sceptical that we need help but is willing to consider some for fall clean-up. It’s a start..... When I contacted the company, they are pretty much booked up now for spring and early summer anyway. We are still talking about details (via e-mail, so it’s a slow conversation....). Apparently each crew is three people and DH and I want to be working along with them so that makes 5 people (well...4 1/2 since I work very slow these days!) So we should be able to accomplish a fair bit in a short time, especially since the garden here is set up to be relatively low/easy maintenance. I gave them the link to my on-line maintenance manual so they can see what the garden is like and what I expect to be done. If we come to an agreement with them and they work out well this fall, next year we’d likely use them at more times of the year. I’ve got my fingers crossed that this is an important, positive step for us....l

Those of you with leaves you can let break down on your garden beds, consider yourselves lucky! I wish I could do that. Big, waxy leaves that create a thick mat. ....Just to show why some of us have to rake the leaves away. Maybe I need a helper with a heavy duty shredder?

Hey GG, how about some photos?

Photos of what?? LOL!! My garden beds are not even two season old so not much to show for themselves yet :-) And I am still planting them. Maybe they will have more to say for themselves later in the season but right now they are more bare soil than anything else.

Although I did notice that my gifted doublefile viburnum seedling has a lot of flower buds forming!! This will be its first year to bloom! And it is still pretty tiny.

sandyslopes, too bad you can't use those leaves to roof your house or something!

GG, that post made me so happy for you!