Alison Marsden, Gardening by Design

Getting Older?

Here are a few ideas that might help you adapt your garden as you get older to keep it easy to maintain.

Ô Begin to raise the level of planting in beds and borders by building up the sides with wooden or stone blocks. This reduces amount you bend and also increases the depth of improved soil so less digging is needed

Ô Check out newly-designed gardening tools: Now may be the time to retire that heavy old garden fork in favour of a light border fork or cultivator and also to look for long-handled trowel, shears etc.

Ô Mulch around plants to reduce the need for watering and weeding

Ô Consider changing some labour-intensive areas to low-maintenance planting so that you can concentrate your energy & time on fewer beds near where you regularly sit

Ô Cultivate a slightly more relaxed attitude to dead-heading and enjoy some of the seed-heads through the autumn and winter

Ô Ponds are high-maintenance, cold and wet; although a great wildlife feature too. A wall-fountain or a pebble fountain may suit you better now

Ô Sit down and enjoy ~ that’s what a garden is for!