Re: [gardeners] The March of Time

M T (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 17 Apr 2003 22:07:44 -0700 (PDT) 

Hi Alan,

 Yup! Friends of mine are now in thier 70's. We all started as
gardening friends and ended up with me as their gardener by default.

 They have 1.5 acres with a few too many beds. Most of them have soaker
hoses run through them, but the beds are spread out on the property and
even dragging a heavy hose 100 feet is getting to be too much for the
Ladies.

 We started planning for this a few years ago by replacing some of the
annuals and fussy perennials with easy care shrubs, tougher perennials
and sturdy ground covers.
 Anything that needs regular spraying or lots of watering or
deadheading is mostly gone. A number of old, tough roses are still
there, but they don't get sprayed (seldom ever needed it) and they are
the excepting to the rule.
 Heavy mulching and close planting helps keep weeding to a minimum.
Where it doesn't kill the ground covers, we use corn meal as a
preemergent and a mild nitrogen fertilizer.
 (Corn Meal will kill ajuga, vinca and I guess most other spreading
type ground covers. We know about the ajuga and vinca first hand...)

 At least for me, the fact that they have a lot of smaller beds makes
things go faster. I can tick them off the checklist fairly quickly and
feel like I'm accomplishing something earlier in the day. <VBG>

Stay cool,
Matt in Norfolk, Virginia - USDA zone 8

> ------------------------------
> 
> Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 07:18:51 -0700
> From: Zelhart Alan-rpcs30 <Alan.Zelhart@motorola.com>
> Subject: RE: [gardeners] The March of Time
> 
> You know, you mention something that I've been thinking of for some
> time.  Decisions for my future.  If I want to stay here at Sunsprite
> Cottage, there will come a time when I will no longer be able to do
> the gardening chores as I do now.  So, I need to think ahead and
> plan.  Will I want to sell the house and move to something like a
> condo?  Or will I want to have landscapers come in and do the work
> for me.  If that be the case, then I need to make sure I have a fund
> set aside to manage that expense.  So, I increased the amount of
> money I'm putting away in my 401K plan, just to make sure it's always
> taken care of :)
> 
> Chat with you later,
> Alan
> - -- 
> Chandler, Arizona        Sunset Zone: 13
> http://www.GardenersCorner.com
> - -----
> Alan Zelhart       
> gizmoaz@cox.net
> Gardens Co-listowner
> http://www.gardenerscorner.com/notes.html
> - -----
> Laugh alone and the world thinks you're an idiot
> 


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