Easy care garden plan for seniors

11 years ago

We are older seniors, still enjoying our own home, a bungalow. While we love spending time outdoors, we no longer have the energy to keep up with all our perennial beds so are looking for some simple garden designs in the new style of mass plantings of the same plant, simple, easy care, with lots of mulch in between. To that end, we have been ripping out all misbehaving plants, adding hostas, hydrangeas and coral bells to the existing shrubs, vines and day lilies, but would love to have a simple plan to work towards. Does anyone know of a book or plan for something like this? So far I have not found one, and think it would be a best seller, as there are a lot of us out there with the same dilemma who prefer our own homes to condo living, but are struggling with the extra work of our perennial gardens!

Featured Answer

hayleydaniels

11 years ago

Be careful about putting in too many shrubs and bushes as they become overgrown and make your home look unkempt within a few years. You also end up with a lot of weeds that make the home look run-down.

We have an elderly couple in our neighborhood whose brushes are sooo overgrown that you can't even see the front yard. I don't know anything else about their situation, but what started out as nice landscaping is out of control.

My in-laws have a huge yard that my husband takes care of as they're in their 80s and can't do it any more. He's slowly turning gardens back to grass so all he has to do is mow.

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Comments (6)

hatetoshop
11 years ago
More shrubs and containers, less perennials that need cutting back, dividing, etc. Look online for "low maintenance garden" -- you will find books and sites with lots of ideas. You can also go to Garden Web, another Houzz website.
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hatetoshop
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Hayleydaniels is right -- shrubs do have a habit of taking over in time.

After moving into my new home, I decided I was done with gardening on a large scale, so I have put in shrubs (very small now) with a few perennials. I expect I'll be long gone before these suckers become overgrown.
pcmom1
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
First off, looks like a really large lawn. Are you taking care of that yourself for now? And in what area of the country do you live?

If it is within your budget, you could shrink the lawn and add a few large rocks, gravel, with just a few grasses, small shrubs:

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Red Berm
11 years ago
Groundcover doesn't need alot of maintenance and if you edge it it shouldn't get out of control. A few spaced shrubs and some groundcover will bring your maintenance down. I haven't seen any books for minimal garden maintenance it's just a rule of thumb..and not fruit or vegetables those take alot of maintenance.
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GreenTowers, LLC
11 years ago
Would you consider doing a raised bed garden? We have worked with a few retirement communities around us and they all love the idea of being able to garden without bending over.