How Gardens Change as We Grow Older

But gardens are moveable feasts and I have changed mine with the times, the water restrictions, and my own requirements as I grow older. I am hoping to live in my home and garden for another twenty years at least which would bring me to age 100. I have seen aging folks let plants die in containers and leave them where they were because of lack of strength to do otherwise. Aging gardeners sometimes allow old plants to invade and the whole place to become a spookie and disreputable jungle. I didn’t want that to happen here so I gutted the heavy water users a year ago, got rid of drip systems that contrary to public opinion in my case used too much irrigation, stashed unused hanging baskets and pots neatly upside down in a special area, filled some with succulents in special arrangements, planted a large succulent bank to replace Algerian ivy, and kept all the drought resistant “bones” of the garden, the old hedges and trees that give me privacy. I covered all bare ground with mulch and am doing easy care, drought-resistant and native plants and having fun with adding special features for great grandchildren. The place still has charm but in a different way and I often save up to $100 a month on my water bills over what I was paying before. For more, see also under Media “Treasured: Girls Gone Child”. (The well-known writer/blogger Rebecca Woolf is one of my five wonderful grandchildren.)