by Carol Barany, Master Gardener
Some years ago a friend confided that she was going to stop gardening. She had just turned seventy five. For her, bending over to prune the roses did not guarantee that she would ever be able to straighten up again.
I didn’t say so at the time, but in the back of my mind I dismissed the idea that working in the garden would ever become difficult for me. And then, a few days ago, I turned 75. And while the bill hasn’t come due yet, I know it’s in the mail.
At thirty, I never imagined myself as someone who would ever get old. But I’m 45 years into gardening now, and I’m not giving up just yet. Gardening is more than growing plants. It’s about growing yourself.
So how do we keep gardening with joy and purpose as we age? It’s not about giving up what we love. It’s about working smarter.
The great reckoning began this past winter. My husband and I made some changes that may allow us continue aging in this home we love so much. We started by installing grab bars in the bathrooms and a walk-in shower on the first floor,
When spring came, my focus turned to my garden. My desire to “age in place” blossomed into my hope to “garden in place.”
I took a brutal look at my twenty five David Austin English roses. They’ve been telling me for years that they yearned for the mild, temperate climate of England and did not enjoy July and August in my hotter than blazes Yakima garden.
What’s more, every spring, pruning the roses meant hours of scratchy work with torn clothes and bloody arms to show for it. Collecting and hauling off a mountain of wizened canes for chipping in Terrace Heights had become a fearsome chore.
And just because I didn’t like them anymore didn’t keep the roses from growing, some to over 6’, requiring a long season of even more bloody pruning.
Old roses have stupendous root systems. I’m a gardener who has never shied from tough, manual labor, but these roses had me beat. So I asked for help from a strong young man who dug them all out in just a few hours.
This left me with a blank canvas begging to be painted. Since asking for help for the first time was so successful, I did it again. I asked a professional landscape designer to help me plan my new garden.
It was the best thing ever.
Guillermo took one look at my garden, and as diplomatically as possible, asked where all the 8” wide rickety stone pathways led, and how did I possibly negotiate them? I had to honestly admit that they were unsafe roads to nowhere.
In 2007 my youngest son William and I drove to Herke Rock in Tampico and bought as many flat rocks as we could lift and my Suburban’s suspension would allow. We plunked them into place, creating stone pathways with little regard to whether they were stable or even level. It didn’t matter. I could hop, skip, and jump with the best of them those days.
Guillermo reminded me that a garden has to be accessible if it’s going to be a senior garden. Paths to and within the garden should be free of obstruction and irregularity.
Thanks to a talented mason, I now have stone pathways 3’ wide that are a breeze to negotiate, even with a loaded wheelbarrow.
New perennials and flowering shrubs that require a minimum of maintenance begged to take the places of those needy roses. We planted three trees for the family who will inherit this garden to enjoy.
I ripped out a drip irrigation system I had cobbled together over 40 years with duct tape and a glue gun and hired a professional to install a new system with a timer.
These changes, along with raised beds, ergonomic tools, lightweight hoses, and garden scooters can extend our lives as active gardeners.
Older adults are frequently subjected to a type of ageism where society assumes they are frail and can only handle “easy” hobbies. In reality, gardening is a highly physical, life-extending exercise. Research has found strong links between regular gardening for older adults and reduced cognitive decline and memory problems. And what’s good for the brain is good for the heart.
I’m blessed to be surrounded by friends who continue to be extraordinary gardeners well into their eighties and nineties. I know it’s not about competition, but I’m willing to bet that these senior gardeners can ‘out garden’ many newbies half their age.
Experience has immense value. These seasoned veterans are living proof that, “you don’t stop gardening when you get old, but you get old when you stop gardening.”
