Gardening in Old Age (8 Tips that Make Things a lot Easier)
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Gardening in Old Age
Even with increasing age, you don't have to do without your beloved garden. Follow our tips and make gardening easier.
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For years, even decades, have you found not only hard work and effort in your garden but also relaxation? You always liked to take care of plants, but physical suffering and lack of energy make it increasingly difficult?
Then it makes sense to rely on easier-care plants that require less attention and are still a lot of fun. But apart from that, there are tricks that reduce the effort and which are presented to you here.
8 Tips to make gardening easier for older people
1. Less work with ground cover
One of the gardener's greatest enemies is all types of weeds. But how can you minimize the tedious and small-scale plucking of weeds or prevent the emergence of weeds?
The simple answer to this question is the so-called ground cover.
The pleasant additional effect of these plants: they protect the soil. Late summer is perfect for planting, as this is where weeds sprout and the ground cover has enough time until winter to penetrate the soil.
Use compost to improve the soil and choose wisely between different ground cover. The best species include
- Dick males
- Small evergreen
- Elf flower
- Blood Geranium
Of course, you can distribute ground cover according to your own ideas. With some varieties, however, you should make sure that they could compete for each other!
If you have already laid a ground cover, do not chop between them. In the worst case, you damage the root system.
2. Quality lawn
As far as the lawn is concerned, you'd better invest a little more in seeds, as this often grows more slowly. This way you save yourself the tedious mowing of your back.
If you use a robotic lawnmower, you can almost save yourself this work.
3. The right choice of beds and planting
Plant beds with low-maintenance, slow-growing shrubs and some shrubs that create a beautiful, coherent and quiet garden picture.
The great advantage of perennials: You do not have to plant them every year, because they are rooted in the ground and can cope better with drought than many summer flowers.
Border the beds with clinker, for example, so that they do not get out of shape without your attention even after a long time.
Easy-care plants
They may have a funny name, but delphiniums and fat hens are real alternatives to maintenance-intensive plants. Both are relatively undemanding and form beautiful, astonishing flowers. Nutrient-Rich soil is ideal for delphiniums.
Delphinium
The Delphiniums grow to be between 120 or even 180 cm tall. Their flower color varies between shades of blue, violet or even white. Some varieties are surprising with other colors such as pink or yellow.
Stonecrop
There are 500 types of stonecrops, however, and their great advantage: You don't have to cut them even in autumn, because the black-brown fruit stands even tolerate snow cover.
But that's not all: most varieties can withstand temperatures of up to minus 20 degrees Celsius and do not need any winter protection. But be careful with ornamental fat hens!
These will not survive a single winter. Incidentally, you can multiply the stonecrop very easily: simply break off one or two cuttings with the thickness of your thumb and dry. Then cover in a saucepan with a mixture of peat and sand and wait.
4. Roses without claim
If you do not want to do without the beautiful roses despite the little time involved, you are well-advised to use flowering varieties more often. Varieties such as
- Sedana Rose
- Gardener delight
- Utopia Rose
Particularly good. They also bless the gardener with new flowers until October.
5. Vegetables with no effort
If you do not want to grow vegetables on a very large scale, this is easily possible.
For example, if you place peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs or kohlrabi in large planters, protected from snails, the vegetables will thank you by extending their season into autumn.
Transplanting and maintaining are also very straightforward.
6. With more relaxation in the garden
Say goodbye to the idea that the garden must always look perfect and accurate.
That's not the case! Having a garden also means cultivating it only to a limited extent and leaving space for the unpredictable that nature can come up with.
So do not do too much, but be amazed at how the environment naturally works in your garden.
7. Wood instead of hedge
Depending on the weather, going to the hedge with the hedge trimmer is necessary up to three times a year and is not particularly suitable for seniors due to the considerable effort that goes with it.
It is better to set up wooden privacy screens that only need to be painted every few years.
Wire baskets filled with stones, called gabions, are a good alternative because they no longer need any maintenance.
8. Allow help in the garden
Gardening does not become easier for an amateur gardener with increasing age, on the contrary.
The bones and joints have been doing their job for decades - signs of wear and tear are the norm.
For example, we recommend electric hedge and garden shears, devices with a particularly ergonomic handle and hoes or rakes with long handles so that you don't have to bend down so deep.
But especially in hot summers, it can happen that every device is of no use.
The cycle and the effort are difficult for seniors. Therefore, it is advisable to get help from a professional nurse if you can no longer do the work alone.
There is no shame in admitting that you can no longer work as you did when you were twenty.
Nursing staff, for example from the senior care, can provide great support not only in the household but also in the garden and make everyday life easier for seniors - and they too will be happy when garden tools make work easier.
Conclusion
Even in old age, a beautiful garden can be well preserved. But think carefully about what you can do and when you need support for the work. It's no shame to want to do everything yourself.
Follow the tricks and tips of this article and you will see how many tedious steps are becoming less common.
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Last update on 2025-03-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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