start by getting rid of everything you have to shear ... you might be amazed how much time and energy you waste on that ...

stop fertilizing the lawn .. so you dont have to mow it every 15 mins ... and watering it ... who cares if it browns out in summer... it will reflush in fall ...

stop watering.. and let ma nature edit all the foo foo plants that cant get by on their own ...

move all the 'special stuff' up close to the house ... into a bed that you can handle in size and maintenance ....

the alternative.. is to basically abandon it .. which will happen sooner or later ... and then have to look at the jungle out there until you have to leave the property .. and i can say.. it breaks my heart every time i go out there ...

maybe join a garden club.. and once a season.. pick a bed.. and tell them you want everything gone.. and see if they might be interested in scavenging the whole bed ... and raking it smooth for free plants ....

ken

Well I've never fertilized my yard or other areas on the property nor do I water my plants excessively - thank goodness. Get rid of everything that needs sheared? ugh, it's taken years to get to where they are now, look so nice, but yes time consuming once or twice a year. Already pay someone to trim the tall privet along the road, I'm sure they would maintain the inner arch but I pay $550 currently so tack on another $100.

And I have downsized my flower beds to just four small borders, plus the one little sunken garden that has perennials.

Leave? Perhaps sooner than I would have liked. Which brings to mind whenever I drive by a large home with old beautiful landscaping, both of which are in decline, I think to myself, "Look at the mess. Why don't they take care of that anymore?" Now I realize.

ken made great suggestions..I've had boxwoods for at least 20 years..in a previous house and here for 16 years..they looked nice for a long time but a few years ago I noticed cupping, discoloration and leaf drop..I took samples to the extension office..I received a lengthy scientific explanation..bottom line..the diseases involved treatments which I didn't want to do..so I started removing them..I took a count with a clipboard..I had 113!..bit by bit they've disappeared..I'm down to 2..they hide the electrical box at the back of the lot..there's viburnums in front of them but they're helpful in the winter..I'll let them stay..

these were removed in the last few weeks..they needed clipping and I'd avoided it..I dreaded clipping..it was tedious to remove the ugliness while trying to retain a nice shape..mine had a natural look..no flat tops or meatballs but although someone might think they're maintenance free they were not..I feel great that they're gone..they were a burden not a joy..

the answer is to simplify..I'm doing the very same thing..I want to feel less overwhelmed..

I have weeds but have made a conscious decision not to worry about it..I pull what I can but I can't get them all..

I'm in the midst of 2 more removal projects..

'Clausa' hosta was out of bounds..I couldn't walk down my path..I've intended to move them (and other volunteers) for years but couldn't get it done..I finally got started..I had a yard sale and sold some but the ones in the path are impossible to dig out so I cut them down..

see the stems which I'll need to grind out?..

the area where I dug them out for the sale..

my other removal is lamium..I don't want to clip it constantly which is what it takes to look neat..so I'm ripping it out..

it's in the path..it smothers my plants..it covers the stonework which I want to see..it's pretty but I can live without it..

I decided to comment to let you know you're not alone in having the issue of aging and can't work as you once did..don't stop gardening!..enjoy in a smaller dose..good luck..

Some good ideas from Ken. I will turn 75 in two days time, been an avid gardener here the past 23 years with very extensive garden beds, and am now less enamored and able to do the work needed.

I was very fortunate that my postal delivery gal offered five years ago to help me with the weeding. She is able to do in one hour what would now take me several days to accomplish! She needs the money, and my gardens benefit greatly. Otherwise, I would have a jungle out there for certain.

I do think, for me, hiring help to do the "big" things is the way to go. Not for everyone, perhaps, of course. I still enjoy hand watering, deadheading and planting. Dividing large clumps of daylilies and hosta -- not so much. This year, I must find a strong and willing young male (prefer eye candy here, even at my advanced age, lol) to do that, a.s.a.p.... Also not looking forward to needed dividing of bearded iris, which are stunning right now, but have fewer blooms due to crowding.

And then there are the daffodils, which I went overboard with some years ago (2500 bulbs) , which also have fewer blooms and desperately need to be dug and spaced out and re-located... Those are in long drifts up by the road, and I know I cannot deal with them. Argggh.

Schoolhouse, unless your boxwood hedge is deliberately pruned for shape, I would let it grow from now on as it pleases, more or less, if possible. 20 years ago, I planted them as a "wall" around part of my fountain-pond, and thought I'd keep it trimmed -- HAH! Too much else to do, so now it has been left all this time on its own. Yes, it may look shaggy to folks, but I am a casual gardener (think cottage style) and quite like that wilder look. It is very low on my list of what should be done. You may prefer the more formal look, of course.

Same with the privet hedge you have -- I have only two privets (golden) that are specimen-style, and have now become at least 15 feet tall, but I like the tree-like form they have, providing some shade, and I just whack it back now and then. I am presently contemplating doing a very hard prune to cut the height drastically in half and watch what happens. If I lose it, it won't be the end of the world.

Sorry for this long epistle! Final thoughts:

-- If you can hire out some of the work you need doing, go for it. No, the worker might not do exactly as you would do, but at least you won't have to do it! Get rid of a worker who will not listen to what you want, and performs badly, of course.

-- The garden club idea Ken suggested is great, and you don't even have to join. Members would jump at the chance to obtain free-for-the-digging plants.

-- If all fails, and you are ready to give up gardening in a big way (lol), hire a flock of goats to chomp it down (they will eat anything and would be fenced away from what you want to remain).

Those are MY eventual plans, including the goats, as I am fully aware that the next owner of these 2+ acres will almost certainly not want to deal with my gardens, and will sweep them all away. Pity, but inevitable! Until then, I shall persevere, keep doing what I can manage, and enjoy the beauty of it all...!!!

Beautiful property, nicholsworth.

Yes, I shear my formal boxwood hedge borders but try the "semi-shaggy" look. I prefer it too. Also have the two topiaries, small ones but they need trimming more often.

"I shall persevere, keep doing what I can manage, and enjoy the beauty of it all...!!!" will be my mantra from now on. : )

This is an issue/concern for me/us too.... I am only 64 but have been disabled since 1997 so look and function like someone much older! DH will be 68 in September - so far (knock-on-wood!) he has been healthy and active. His 61-year-old sister moved in with us a month or so ago. She is fairly active but has some health issues and is not a gardener, although she has been helping me a bit in the garden this past month or so. While, due to my disabilities, I made this garden as simple as possible to maintain (we bought this property and made this garden after I became disabled....) So, while much of this garden is 'easy maintenance', as we're getting older and looking to the future, we can see the time coming when keeping this garden in decent shape will not be possible. We have used a garden service (real gardeners, not just a lawn service...) to help with spring and fall chores in the past two years. But they are aging too so I'm not sure how much longer they will be in business....! A near-by gardening neighbour in her mid-70s is dealing with these issues too. She had another neighbour's landscaping company come in two years age to simplify the garden a bit, but it is still big and a lot of work, even with someone coming in from time to time to help her.

So it's a big issue for a lot of aging gardeners! I think, when the time comes that we can't maintain the garden even with some help from time to time, that I'd prefer to just sell and walk away than to stay and watch it decline! Mind you, I'd be bored silly without a garden....! Try as I might, I can't think of an easy answer to the question of what to do with the garden as we get older....

It's my theory that longer you stay out there and garden, age-wise - the longer you are able to do so. Both of my parents were avid gardeners and did so well into their 80's. Or as my sister tells me all the time - "use it or lose it"!! 😁

But now in my 7th decade, I do not have the strength or the stamina to do as much as I did. So I have compromised by reducing the amount of inground gardening I do and hire/barter out the bigger or heavier chores. I have an advantage in that I have a very close association with an excellent landscape contractor because of my business as a designer. And because I refer a lot of business to him, he reciprocates by sending his crew over a couple of times a year to do all the big stuff I can no longer manage easily - the early spring garden clean up, keeping the greenbelt surrounding me from its annual encroachment, schlepping around my very heavy, big ceramic containers, any tall pruning (I do the short stuff), any major transplanting, etc.

He and his crew are a godsend and I would not be able to manage without him!

I honestly cannot imagine living anywhere that I couldn't have at least a small garden of my own. I would shrivel up and die!! I will just need to keep scaling back so I can continue.

roxanna..you inspire me!..I'm 66..that you're still working on a property of 2+ acres makes me think my half an acre should be manageable..I wanted you to know that I bought 2 (a 50 & 100 ft) of the lightweight hoses you recommended and I love them!

schoolhouse..thanks for the compliment!..a compliment from a gardener means so much since they know the time and effort involved to create a garden..I can't wait to finish my clean up and take new pics..at the moment I'm really excited and motivated to work on my garden..

Nicholsworth -- Thanks for the compliment! I used to be able to work outside for eight hours straight, with small lunch break -- NOT happening now, dang it. I am one who has long admired your gardens (and cute shed) also. So beautiful in the woods. And I am SO happy that you took my recommendation to get the wonderful WaterRight hoses -- I cannot praise them enough. They are so lightweight that even i, at my age and shrinking from my top height of 4'10", can haul 200 feet of them out to my furthest borders. Whee! So glad you love them, too.

To me, at this point in my gardening life, the most irksome thing about having to find help is that so very few of the so-called landscape/garden businesses have any real knowledge of actual plants and how to care/divide etc. them. And it can be pointless to try and educate them. They have no interests beyond mowing/leaf blowing, and that stuff. I really would like to find a willing worker who would carefully hand-rake (HAH!) the actual gardens, instead of blowing autumn debris at high decibels with ferociously-powered machines, and then be able to mulch the beneficial leaves to put back onto the beds... A dream...

If anyone believes in Heaven, I picture it as being a perfectly kept garden, with everything one could want there (personalized Heaven, to be sure) and we could all work to our hearts' content forever. Of course, there would also be an infinite Library as well, with all my old favorites and all the authors I love would have continued to write for my endless delight. And composers of great music ditto.

I don't want much. Do I?! <grin>

In the same boat. And like Woody, I’ve had health challenges for longer than I care to count. So, from the beginning, my aim was to try to keep it low maintenance. When I first started, I would make that statement and many people would tell me, there is no such thing. [g] I didn’t believe that but of course, they were right. Ken, was probably one of them. lol

As much as I tried to make it low maintenance, I guess I still was very ambitious and wanted to do everything. Vegetables, perennials, natives, even roses eventually. So, now, just this year, I thought, even when I hired a high school boy to help it was a lot to keep up with to try to get it to look the way I want it to look, which I have never actually done, not one season. [g] I have one front bed that I focus on keeping looking presentable but the back is hit or miss, whether everything gets done.

I do hire. I look for someone every year just about. I've hired off Craig's List for a minimum wage for someone with no experience who just has a strong back. That's worked some years. Once it didn't work the way I liked and I stopped doing that for a couple of years. This year I got lucky with the high school boy. I tried to get him for 8-12 hrs a week but he couldn't give me that much time, so I didn't get caught up to where I'd hoped. I paid him $15. an hr. I tried to find a 2nd person, but all I found were two experienced gardeners, one was charging $65. an hr and did design work etc., that I didn't need. The other just did maintenance, weeding, mulching, planting. $25. an hr. I decided to finish the season without more help. I'm still looking for someone for the Fall to work on projects.

Gardening for someone whose health is not 100% is, to me, a perfect hobby. Because if you can’t go everywhere you want to go and do everything you want to do, you spend a lot of time at home. If you enjoy nature and the outdoors, then you’re lucky you have a built in activity to entertain yourself with. Not to mention all the other benefits of gardening.

I’ve asked myself these questions some years, not every year. Last year, I seriously considered what did I think about moving to an apartment and being satisfied with growing houseplants. And the answer was nope. I would hate it. I hope I never have to. I take the same position that Gardengal’s sister does, ‘Use it or lose it.’ That was actually my Mom’s favorite saying and she worked going up and down 3 flights of stairs until she was 84 years old. And I’m told I had two great aunts that had extensive gardens that lived into their 90s.

I keep doing what I’m able to do and keep trying to do more and plan to keep doing that for as long as I can do it. Even more than that, I think I can improve and get better and do more every year, and I surprise myself more often than not. I spend the winter trying to improve my health, keep up an exercise routine when I can, and plan a garden for the spring, in case I can manage one.

Are there different decisions I can make? Everything I can think of to make the garden more manageable, would take even more work to get to that point and expense…lol. Really, just completing some of the projects that I’ve had on the back burner for years and couldn’t get to them.

I consider moving to another house and starting over a new garden…lol. Not to a retirement home. Maybe, I would be content if I lived within walking distance to a botanical garden that I could visit everyday and watch them work. [g] Or move near the ocean and enjoy a coastal life with minimal gardening. So, clearly, my thinking is going in the opposite direction than it probably should. Maybe impractical. But maybe that is the way to go - refuse to give in. LoL

prairiemoon..you shared such good thoughts..there's a lot of experience in this group..

our aging situation reminds me of the expression - the mind is willing but the flesh is weak..

moving seems overwhelming..starting over in a house and garden sounds dreadful..it doesn't excite me very much..

OMGosh, Nicholsworth, I was thinking of that quote as well...'the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.' lol

prairiemoon..that's it!..in my case my mind and flesh are weak Lol!!!..

I don't "need" help yet (would love to have it lol but don't physically need it yet) but I am on the other end of this. I have a small gardening business where I go and help maintain others' gardens. It all started years ago with a chance encounter with a woman at a community meeting. We happened to sit next to each other, struck up a conversation, and over the next few meetings discovered we both gardened. She had very bad knees and offered to pay me to help her.

After working with her for a year or so I hung a flyer in a few local supermarkets and got some calls. At one point I had about 8 customers. Some of them worked alongside me, others left the garden completely in my hands. Yet others asked me to design and install gardens. (was VERY hesitant to do that as I am not a designer but she told me I could do better than her so I gave it a shot!). I have since downsized to two gardens as my other work situation has changed. My customers weren't all in physical need of help (some just wanted a nicer garden and didn't have time or knowledge) but several were older folks who wanted the garden but couldn't physically do the work themselves.

I have not raised my rates in well over five years, but that is because I do have some health issues and have slowed down considerably, and don't feel comfortable charging more per hour to do less work per hour. (I've gone from being able to easily carry TWO 40-pound bags of topsoil across the lawn to desperately trying to drag ONE across the grass lol.) But I will say in my area I've heard people get about $25-$30 per hour. Expensive, but I guess it's like any other service we pay for, like someone cleaning your house. If you can't or don't want to do it yourself, but want it done, is it worth it to hire someone? That's a personal decision. (I also live in an expensive-to-live part of the country!)

Now the question is, where do you find folks that do this work? I don't know if supermarkets even have community boards any more lol! Perhaps there is a virtual equivalent? (I'm not on any social media so I honestly don't know.) I met someone else who does this and it seems we both got several of our customers by word of mouth. Maybe if you ask around at a garden club, or garden center or nursery, or if you are on FB you can ask around there (there's some kind of FB marketplace, I think). I think craigslist has a "services offered" category, although I would personally ask for references going through there. I think there's definitely people out there who do this, or who would and could do this if they were offered such work. It's just a matter of being creative to try to find them!

By the way one year I did hire a young teen to help with some of the heavier stuff, but I found I think it would have been better to have someone with garden knowledge.

Lastly, and I'm sure this has already crossed your mind at least, and possibly you are already starting, but there's always the "big transition" (which I keep saying I am going to start but keep putting off!). And that is to cut down on higher-maintenance perennials and shift to a higher percentage of shrubs. They're lower maintenance and if the bulk of your garden is that I think it's easier to deal with. I also like the idea of having your "special" stuff closer to the house to enjoy.

One more thing I just thought of. Several high schools require their students to do community volunteer work. While I'm not sure going to your house to help you would qualify, there's no harm in approaching the local garden club to see if they can set up some kind of program with the high school, so the kids can work through the garden club. I work at a library and I can tell you so many kids are really looking for places to volunteer - since it's a requirement the local charities and other usual places are often filled up with their volunteer quota quickly. Perhaps you could even volunteer to help your local garden club get such a program up and running - I think this would be a great program, now that I think about it lol. I bet there's lots of people in the community who could use help in the yard/garden. We're back to that "teens with no gardening experience" situation, but hey, it would be great to think some teens would return each school year and maybe get a love of gardening.

Okay, sorry, one more thing. Some middle and high schools have school gardens. At the very least check in with the person who runs it and see if s/he has any ideas on how to get help. Again, there may be some teen in the program looking for work.

Good luck! Please keep thinking of different ways to do this! I would hate to see you give up your garden. Like roxanna, I know how much my garden means to me and I'm sure it means the same to you, so don't give up without exhausting every avenue!

:)

Dee

P.S. Heck, placing a "garden help wanted" sign in front of your house might get you some results. Might get you some crazies too, lol, but if you're willing to do something like this you never know what local gardener might see the sign and contact you!

You can weedwack Lamium and many other low sprawlers rather than shearing them. And you can do shrub roses with a hedge trimmer. Not that I do either. I've always had very small town gardens and have never wanted a large one. I didn't want my garden to become work and I didn't want to feel stressed or guilty about not doing it. I feel the same about big houses.

I am following this thread with interest, as I've been thinking about this lately, too. Even though I'm only in my mid-50s I'm slowing down, and after I injured my wrists two years ago even doing too much non-heavy labor can make my wrists ache for days. So I have to pace myself.

After I put in this huge perennial border in 2019 I thought what the h*ll did I do, how am I going to keep up with this when get old. I did incorporate more shrubs to cut down on maintenance, and I have made a concerted effort as I started to re-work some to incorporate many, many more tall, impactful plants that can stand on their own in a large clump (e.g. Joe Pye, swamp milkweed, ironweed, Becky shastas, Culver's root, etc). Not only do these big boys (and girls) look better in my setting, I've found they're actually lower maintenance in terms of being easier to tend because (a) there's not as many of them, (b) that 3+ foot height is a lot easier to work with when they need fiddling with, and (c) fall clean-up of these is faster and easier. It's getting harder and harder to bend down to tend to short plants! Bending at the knees is getting harder because of my hip issues (not knee problems, thankfully), but I can still kneel and crawl on the ground with no problem -- probably not for much longer, though, and I really don't want to crawl through the beds to deadhead or whatever. So I'm working on culling the shorter plants as the larger, taller ones really start to fill in. I won't be ridding the beds entirely of shorter plants -- some of them are invaluable foliage plants or such beauties they're worth the effort -- but I am reducing them by a fair amount in an effort to reduce maintenance, not just for the future as I age but for now, too, to cut down on time spent on maintenance chores and seasonal clean-up. Also, taller plants means I can see stuff better out the window, not only the plants but the visitors like bees, hummers, butterflies, and I'm eagerly awaiting a sighting of the Great Black Wasp this year: Great Black Wasp (Family Sphecidae) | Field Station (uwm.edu) I oddly find her a mesmerizing creature (I have no idea if I always saw the same one, but I'd like to think so -- like an old friend I'm looking forward to seeing again).

I tried to cut back on the annual potted displays because I hate watering and it's a never-ending chore, but dang seasons here are short and there's nothing like the shot of color you get from annuals. I did cut back a little on smaller pots of stuff scattered here and there -- that's progress...

I'm also thinking about what new tools I should buy to facilitate ease of chores. I've got a list of things I'd like to invest in like torch weeder, cordless reciprocating saw, cordless electric trimmer, stuff like that. Anti-vibration gloves and ergonomic hand tools because of my wrists, too.

One major project -- major meaning large in scope necessitating opening the checkbook and hiring the big guns -- is having hardscaping done, which includes new patio and front porch and walkway. My front porch is narrow and crumbling, I've almost fallen off it a couple times, and I hate my deck -- not only is it ugly, it's rather dangerous because there's no railings and have to be careful and pay attention where you're walking so you don't fall off of it (although my big tall plants will break the fall LOL!). DH has a particular friend that tends to imbibe much too much, and he always moves the table onto the grass when this guy comes over because he actually did almost fall backwards and crack his head open one time. So the deck has to go.

Anyway, when I finally have the funds to do this, I will have things designed so that they are accessible. People don't think about this when they are designing and building something, but they should. Much better to build a patio and front entryway with a visually pleasingly ramp and wide walkways from the ground up rather than having to make usually ugly modifications if/when accessibility becomes an issue. I want to be able to go outside and enjoy what I have, even if I need a wheelchair or walker. Doesn't mean maintenance of the garden goes away, but here again if hardscaping is designed to take accessibility into account, you can still garden! Maybe not how you did in the past, but better to adapt than not garden at all...

I think I will be very sad when I can't do at least something out there anymore. I hope I'll be out there puttering around while the Great Black Wasp is nearby sipping nectar from the milkweed when the good Lord decides to take me...

You mentioned something that has made my gardening life so much easier - cordless tools. I have nearly all cordless now. Weedeater, hedge trimmer, mini hedge trimmers, long extendable pole hedge trimmer, grass shears, leaf blower ( now if only I could find a well made cordless vacuum! I've been looking), reciprocal saw (my favorite, I think we discussed these before).

I agree, after all the work, it is good to sit and just observe, if only for a week or two and then the work begins again. But that couple of weeks is priceless. It's what we gardeners live for. : )

Electric Mower with a battery last year, quite an upgrade.

Electric saw, we used exclusively this year.

No hedges, no hedge trimmers.

Hand truck for moving everything.

Rolling carts.

Easiest care shrubs here - Itea, Clethra, Aronia, Gray dogwood.

We got a Roomba for Christmas last year. Tried it and thought, what’s so great about this? [g] Went back to vacuuming with the vacuum. You just have to get the room ready for it. And I discovered it can spot clean. It will go in a 3ft circle and then stop when it’s done. Vacuuming to me, is not good exercise, it’s hard on the back, so I think this Roomba is going to work out fine.

I used to try to do about 20 outside containers years ago, and quickly saw how much work that was. Did that for 2 years and only do about four since then, and happy with that.

Ooh- a thread for me as I think about this a lot.

I am 66 and have no one to leave my property to so I toy with various ideas from having a huge "dig your own plant sale" to selling when I can longer crawl around in dirt four hours a day to selling it to a gardening person at reduced price in some sort of lotto/ drawing.

But the last 'garden home' I sold went to hell pretty quickly- I have even stopped driving by when I visit the town because the remaining 'garden' is so depressing.

Honestly the garden is my #1 reason for staying in shape and to that end I took up running at age 63 to try and stave off the inevitable. Doing all I can do to keep my body in shape is now my main priority, but I know- crap happens. I am moving more slowly and it takes me a bit longer to stand up straight after being bent over weeding. So I go slower but I keep at it.

I am trying my level best to simplify things each year and reduce the amount of maintenance. Fortunately I had the good sense to marry a younger man so for heavier duty chores I wait for him to help- trimming larger trees, dragging limbs to the big 'compost pile' in our woods, etc. I stand there with a long stick showing him where to cut, lol. Any more I prune and toss onto a huge tarp and let him deal with the dragging- it's not uncommon for him to get home from work only to find more work waiting and he is very good about it. But for weeding he's useless- can't distinguish things and never gets the whole root. So I'm filling the beds- stuffing perennials in there so weeds are fewer each year.

It's a problem.

I'm looking for a cordless yard/leaf vac, not a vacuum for inside the house.

LOL - Oops! Guess I didn't quite get that.

I still enjoy hand watering, deadheading and planting. Dividing large clumps of daylilies and hosta -- not so much.

==>>> in other words.. you enjoy puttering ... but not the back breaking labor so much ....

and therein lies the rub ....

ken

I just found this thread. I'm SO GLAD to hear about all of us who are over 60. I'm 71 now, and still adding to my extensive garden. I don't use help, or haven't so far. But I have nothing else to do in the summers so I spend time out there pulling weeds, hoeing (an industrial strength hoe is great, but boy would I prefer to have mulch blocking the weeds), diggin and dividing and moving things around.

And putting in yet another garden, a fern garden in deep shade. It's not ready for photos yet. Maybe next year.

I have a small side garden that has been invaded by tree roots. I need to get in there and delete those roots soon, or all my plants will shrink to nothing. They are already shrinking. This task is daunting.

I think that doing this hard laborious but pleasant work keeps me "young." So far I haven't developed any health issues that would prevent me from continuing garden work.

Oh, this year I plan on hiring people to rake the oak leaves. I have at least 42 mature oaks that border my property. Raking is a big, long task that goes on and on for weeks. I've always done it myself, and have found a way of raking that's fast. But I'm emotionally tired of all this raking. I need to find someone to help this fall.

That is a lot of oak trees, liquidfeet! I wonder if you've considered buying some equipment to help with the job? A leaf vaccum/shredder? You could have huge compost piles...lol. Where do you rake the leaves to? I have Maple leaves to contend with but I'm happy to have them for organic matter and mulch. I normally leave them where they drop under the trees in borders, but what falls on the lawn, just gets mowed up with the grass and we empty the mower bag onto raised veggie beds or back into the beds under the trees. Of course, I don't have 42 Maple trees. [g]

Very fortunate to be healthy and to be able to keep gardening. I agree it can keep you young!

What a great thread! I am being more deliberate these days in my purchases and placement of plants. I have a small lot, but I want to keep what I love maintained. In the past few years, I have removed foundation shrubs and small trees that were not planted in the appropriate spot or were just too fast-growing. I have a few foundation shrubs and roses that require minimum attention. For example, I have a quickfire hydrangea that tops six feet and has never been pruned. If it never gets pruned and continues to flower, it will remain majestic with no help from me. I have lawn folks who cut the lawn and come to do the fall and spring cleanup. I'm still working on simplifying the weeding of the beds. In previous years, I've used cardboard with mulch, and that works really well. I read on one of the garden forums about applying some PREEN in late fall on the mulch. If that works, I'll add it to my arsenal and hopefully enjoy my beds for many years to come.

How timely this thread is! I've had some health issues, but refuse to give up gardening because it gives me more joy than anything! But in the last two years more health issues have me think about this more and simplifying my chores and garden. Most of my purchases and propagation have been perennials, shrubs, and trees. Mostly easy (easier) care plants. I am proud to say I did not purchase one single annual this year. (The ongoing rise in prices of annuals really peed me off). I bought some grow lights and grew most of them myself and overwintered a few and took constant cuttings. (More work, but keeps me from getting bored and depressed during the winter).

I have always preferred annuals as a whole for pop of color and long term blooms, though. Now I find myself limiting myself to patches here and there for them. I am definitely not a designer or anything closely related and I'm sure it shows in my garden! I do love to draw the birds and wildlife, but along with the birds come more weeds! Thank goodness I finally started doing serious mulching to eliminate so much weeding. Before I just packed in more plants---after continuous weeding from the Spring rains, of course.

I pay more attention to spacing and needs of my plants now, too. I have that luxury using the mulch. The thing I struggle with now, as I get older is decision making. I have become the most indecisive person, and this frustrates me to no end! I think a lot of it, is because I'm afraid of how much work it will be to change things, if it doesn't work out. I don't know.

Over the last few years, I've found myself crawling around more in the garden while working, not to mention doing more while sitting. Kneeling and bending too much has become nearly impossible. Of course I always push the limits, even from a sitting position. Last year I was doing too much and dislocated my shoulder. This year I suffer from sciatica constantly and have two lower hernias. One on each side, no less. I have a very large yard and way too much garden for one person, let alone someone with my issues. Hauling a long hose around drains me.

I believe this year is the year to invest in drip irrigation. Of course most of that will be done by me, just so I can afford to do it. We go very long stretches with extreme heat and humidity and I just cannot drag that hose around or haul buckets like I used to. I don't want to either! I prefer to spend my time and energy on 'fun' stuff.

I like the idea of someone interested in gardening and just starting out to share plants for garden work! Between the plants I have and the skill of propagating this would be great opportunity for both myself and others. Or maybe even a collaboration/club of sorts for us older or somewhat physically limited gardeners. Everyone gets together to help a fellow gardener for a day here and there. Just taking turns helping each out. Not to mention the social gratification of spending a day with fellow gardeners!

I've been toying with the idea of a lawn mower garden. Full sun perennials would be planted cheek to jowl and I'd mow over the patch with our mulching mower set on four inches in late fall/early spring. Like a meadow without the grasses. I would choose plants that were about three feet high so they would support each other. Initially there would be a lot of weeding but once my perennials began to fill in the weeding would diminish. Talk me into/out of this ;)

Speaking of lawn mowers, I'm thinking about buying a small 21" push mower to do trimming in areas where dragging the larger self-propelled Lawnboy backwards up and out of the narrow areas is starting to wear me down. Perhaps even a battery operated model, but not sure about that. Would be lighter in weight overall I think? Or just another item to store and take care of. ha

cecily, maybe you could experiment on one small section of a perennial bed and see how it fares the following year.

ETA: I believe In England they have mowers smaller than 21" I saw once on a web site. flora? Do you know if this is true?

ETA: Happy birthday Roxanna!!!!

I am 69 and have always been in very good health until the last 18 months or so. I am feeling so frustrated that I can't do what I want to do (mostly weeding-ha) in the yard. When I was teaching, I was always so exhausted (worked in a very demanding and draining program for students with emotional and behavioral issues) that I rarely had the energy to keep up with the yard as I should have. Then retired at 65 after being injured by students in each of my last four years. Now, my knees are bad and one knee and leg are really quite bad. I was supposed to start PT in February 2020-ha. Everything shut down. Going to the doc in two weeks. Hope he has answers for me!

We have only a half-acre, but sometimes it seems like so much more. Now, when I can, I sit on the ground (yes, hard to get up and down. Ugh) to weed. I have been planting mostly native shrubs this spring-DH digs and I place and refill. I have also put in a few native trees that are small now, but I hope they will grow enough to enjoy before I die. ;-)

Finally, I am starting to save for when I need to pay someone to really take over. I already pay our mowers to weed a couple areas and apply compost. I need to also put away money for emergencies such as removing a dying oak that is going to cost over $3000 to take down. I hate losing a tree and so many of the oaks we started with are gone now. I am, however, replacing them with other oaks. One of my new trees is a Quercus bicolor (Swamp White Oak) .

I think each and every one of you have such wonderful gardens! I have watched them over the years and they (you) bring me so much joy and inspiration. I cannot wait until I am able to get out again and really work!

ETA 2: Schoolhouse, I tried using a push mower for environmental reasons at one point. We have a lot of dips and rises in our front yard that it really didn't work well. I would have like a 12-inch reel mower! Also, we let our leaves in beds lie until spring to support overwintering insects. Ideally, I would have my own shredder to use come spring to shred and blow them back into the gardens as mulch.

I use an electric Blo/Vac to shred leaves. I fill up my cart with leaves, then feed them into the mouth of the vac which shreds them, then the shreds go into the attached collection bag. I empty the collection bag into a large plastic yard waste bag until it's filled up.

This has worked out for a number of years, however I have my eye on a leaf shredder in Hammacher Schlemmer's catalog. It sells for $299. I'm trying to decide if it would be just as easy to use the leaf vac and save me $300.

As for a reel mower, I would have to pass on that. I let my grass get too high and I think it would be a struggle pushing the mower through. Altho I've heard people say the grass gets a better cut with a reel mower.

Those that have a little more acreage, how do you manage to trod back and forth like I do when I forget a tool up at the barn, or decide I should have brought the watering can, etc. This simple task is becoming harder for me. I need a golf cart! Or maybe I will start using my Zero Turn riding mower. : )

A golf cart has been a life saver for me. I bungee cord a tarp on the back and drag all sorts of stuff to the dump pile. Or I load up buckets of weeds and drive them off to the dump pile. Mostly I just like driving around in it pretending I’m working -lol. I use my lawnmower with bagger to mulch up the leaves, which I’ve raked or blown out of the beds, and just dump the chopped leaves back on the beds. More mulch would also be great, but I just never get around to it. I wonder what will happen to my gardens as well. I have just started thinking about eliminating some of them....well maybe next year -lol

What I am finding so surprising is how many GW members are so old. LoL I thought I was the only age challenged person. ;-) Right around my own age even, I just find that funny.

MzDee - we love cardboard and mulch, it really lasts a long time, we end up with enough of the cardboard from deliveries etc., and it’s environmentally a great practice, it’s thrifty and it builds up the soil. The only trouble we are now having is our daughter’s new puppy who loves nothing better than to dig out the cardboard and rip it up. [g]

Gawdinfever - A garden, just heading out the door to see what’s going on in the garden, really does do so much for your mental state. Connects you to the natural world and grounds you, I think.

I understand the difficulty making decisions. I have about 20 pots of plants waiting for a decision and some cooler weather to put them in the ground. I’ve had a pot of Baptisia for 2 years, because I know once you put that in the ground, you better like it there, because it is so difficult to move.

Cecily, I’m a big believer in experimentation, so I like Schoolhouse’s idea to try a small section to see how it works out for you.

Cyn, I’m so sorry to hear about your knees! Terrible timing with Covid! We have had a number of friends who have had their knees replaced, some that had hips replaced. They seem to think it is much better for them. They are not in pain any more and they are more mobile. Just an option that you might consider at some point.

I only have a 1/4 of an acre and it’s all level too. Half of what you have and I still can’t keep on top of it all. [g]

I tried the push mower too, didn’t keep it up, I don’t even remember why. We have a battery operated electric that we really find easy on our small level lot. And our lawn is really not all that large either. I was just thinking that even though we are using electric power, we barely mow the small lawn more than once every 2-3 weeks and that takes 30m all together, so we’re not really using all that much energy. We use the mower to chop leaves, just by spreading the leaves on the lawn in Fall and mowing them, then emptying the mower bag with grass clippings and chopped leaves wherever we need mulch.

Gargamel, I was going to say - bungee cords and a hand truck with containers strapped to it that organizes tools and whatever else you need to keep handy.

prairiemoon, I just looked up leaf vacuum/shredder to deal with all my oak leaves in the fall. The ones that collect the shredded leaves are too expensive for my budget, but that was a great idea. Thanks. I do have a self-propelled mower that is new. I'll use that for the grassy areas. And hire some kids to help maybe. I have to rake the beds myself; I won't ever let anyone else mess up my carefully controlled beds.

Not too long ago there was an article in a Toronto newspaper I read about a dispute between the volunteers and management at the Toronto Botanical Garden over how $ was spent. In it, the volunteers were called by some people in management LOLWG (little old ladies who garden....!) Reading this thread made me think that acronym could apply to us :-)

woodyoak, a bit off-topic, but you reminded me of something from my teenage-hood. A good friend of mine and I both worked in the kitchen at a major hospital after school. One day we were commenting on how most of the women (OLD women to us teens, lol) in the housekeeping department were all babushkas, old Slovak women. Then we felt bad for making fun of them, and said, well, after all, one day we'll be like them too (both being Slovak). I said to her, we should form a club along the lines of Future Teachers club or Future Nurses club, or any of the "future" clubs they had at most high schools. We could call it Future Old Slovak Ladies. We laughed and then my friend said, "oh my God, that would be FOSLs!" (fossils!) We laughed harder. I guess it could fit us now!

:)

Dee

Are battery operated lawnmowers lighter ? I have considered getting one, rather than push my 2 ton lawnboy when necessary. Are they good at mulching leaves? I find the weight of all the equipment I have is just getting too much. So many items, I feel, are geared to men and not women. The vibration from the weed wacker does my hands in after 5 minutes.

I'm curious about the weight of the battery operated mowers too and just how efficient they are. I'll have to go online and read some reviews.

We had a battery operated mower for years and it was quite heavy. A year or so ago DH got a self-propelled battery operated mower. He really likes the self-propelled feature as it eliminates any weght concern and he figures the new mower should make mowing stay easy as he ages. Mind you, there’s not much grass left to mow....and that’s a bigger problem for aging!

I was going to say, our battery operated electric mower, is not lighter, it's probably about the same weight as our old corded mower and it's been too long since we had a gas mower to compare. We had the option of getting a self propelled, but with such a small level lot with not a lot of grass, we felt it was probably a good thing to keep our muscle tone to have some resistance. It's a balance between protecting yourself from getting worn out and keeping the abilities you still have left. There is a lot of research lately about how important keeping muscle is for seniors. And how easily you can lose it. I keep reading up on it and keep looking for as many suggestions for how to maintain muscle.

Great thread Schoolhouse. I too have been seriously trying to think of ways to minimize maintenance.

Its so hard after all the hard work youve put into it...then to think of digging it back out......its almost heartbreaking.

if youre like me, you planted shrubs and perennials too close to each other with the intention of culling them as they filled out… but never actually did it. Well now’s the time!