By Rachel Burrows, Master Gardener

As I get older and want to age in place, my current garden has become too large to manage. I also know that if I have to move, an extensive landscape may scare off potential buyers. So, it is time to take a long hard look at my garden and the plants in it. I have put together some suggestions and ideas to make it easier to enjoy your garden.

First of all, plan ahead to reduce the amount of time and physical effort needed to maintain the garden and make it easier to manage. And enjoy.

• Prioritize a few plants that hold special memories that you really love and recognize that you want to keep them.
• Ask your self the following questions about your perennials.
  • Is it waterwise?
  • Does it need staking or trellising?
  • Is it drought or heat resistant?
  • Does it get a lot of insect damage?
  • Does it require dead heading?
  • After blooming is it boring?

You may want to take out and give away high maintenance plants that meet the criteria above and think about replacing with these ideas.

• Emphasize foliage rather than flowers
• Choose grasses such as Karl Foester,or Panicum vigatum
• Choose shade plants such as foam flower (tiarella), wild ginger (asarum canadense), Japanese painted fern (Athyrium Nipponicum Pictum)

These will provide interest and texture and need little care.

• Shrubs offer more value for less  work: Spireas, Hydrangeas, prostrate blue spruce, ninebark. The birds will love you!
• Hardy perennials such as Sedum Autumn Joy, Lambs Ears, Siberian Iris, Day Lilies, Anise Hyssop Blue Fortune (Agastache)
• Seasonal perennial bulbs.
• Use raised beds and containers. They are easier to reach, don’t get as many weeds and don’t need as much bending.

Lawns can require a lot of time to mow and trim. Think about shrinking grass areas and replace with ground covers such as creeping thyme. The bees love thyme and it can be run over occasionally with a mower Another idea is to replace grass with a stone feature. There may be a teenager in the area willing to mow and use a weed whacker for a reasonable price.

Go native and replace some of the lawn with a meadow garden of native grasses and flowers. Once established this only needs mowing once a year. However, this needs a lot of research and planning in order for it to be successful.

I grassed over my vegetable garden and just grow veggies in a raised bed and containers; realizing that the containers will need fertilizing.  I find this provides me with enough vegetables, needs little weeding and less bending.

I plan to remain in my bungalow for several years and hope to be able to manage and enjoy my lower maintenance garden.

Further information;

Slowgardenlife.com by Catherine A. Carte: 47 low maintenance garden ideas

www. gardendesign.com

Gardening for a Lifetime – how to garden wisely as you get older by Sydney Eddison