last year i'm afraid was the last i could make a new garden/walkway by myself - luckily most of the work i've done in the past to all my gardens is to make them as carefree/maintenance free as possible - mostly perennials and groundcovers and flowering/other interesting shrubbery. shade gardens include stuff like hostas, columbine, foxglove, astible, ajuga, daylilies. sun gardens include delphiniums, peonies, bulbs. i've stayed away from the self-seeders unless i've put them in an area where i want them to self-seed - like columbine, hollyhocks, poppies, daisies, sunflowers. a couple years ago i started getting into container gardening, which is much easier on the body - and also learning about wildflowers in the area [which are weeds to many, but not to me anymore!]
taking breaks and stretching and not over-doing are of key importance. as well as using the right tools so as not to cause more stress on the body. i could go on and on but i hope this little bit helps

Andrea, I agree with Cburg on the containers being easier. Could you keep the beds in low maintenance shrubs and plantings, ornamental trees and groundcovers? With some type of barrier to contain the groundcovers or underplantings, they could be fairly low maintenance.

I urge you to plant those bloomers in containers that you can handle easily. Makes deadheading and trimming a snap.

Using perennials means less time planting and removing spent annuals from the beds. Not to mention less costly over the long run. An added benefit from perennials is that when they need divided, often starts can be given others, in appreciation of their thoughtful gestures, making our lives easier throughout the year.

Planting plants with similar requirements together makes watering much easier, with less hose-dragging, irrigating, etc. I also make use of those faucet tee's to attach two garden hoses at a fawcet, running them to different areas of the garden, which cuts down on hose-dragging. Having some type of hose reel is easier than hand-coiling a hose when done, though they tend to get expensive, if you need more than one or two.

If you do any composting, perhaps have more than one compost area...maybe it would reduce the hauling or organic matter, lifting, shoveling, etc?

I think vertical gardening is easier on persons with disabilities, also. Makes seed collection much easier, plus you get to appreciate foliage and flowers up close.

jeribelle

For your clay soil, check the soil forum for easy ways to improve it, mainly by using a lot of mulch or lasagna gardening. It's much easier than trying to dig in ammendments.
I hope you find ways to continue enjoying your garden without a lot of discomfort.

I always found perennial beds to need a lot of weeding, tho I guess you can cut that down if you use a lot of mulch. A really thick mulch will also cut down on the self-seeding. I don't think mulch is good for irises, tho. I always thought the rhizomes needed sun.

I would suggest bringing your garden closer to the house for ease of access and watering, and building raised beds over time. The time-intensive plants that you love and need a lot of care should be up high and near the house.

I would also limit the selection of plants to the ones I love the most and give over the ones that are less beautiful to me.

I mostly pot-garden now, and I stick to the things that I think are especially lovely. What I'm finding is that just one or two plants that bloom lavishly and that I find especially beautiful really produce quite an effect and are enough for me.

A huge tall petunia, three pots of sweet alyssum, three verbenas and some heliotrope, all in pots really have a lot of pow, especially in a smallish space. But just in case I also planted (in pots) some cardinal flowers, orange thunbergia, nicotiana and ageratum.

I also have 4 honeysuckles, some much loved and often-used herbs and a collection of jasmines and gardenias in pots out there. This is the "garden" I'm in every day, about 6 steps away from my kitchen door and a total of about 16 x 20, with just enough room to walk around :)

I have a couple of sets of those plastic shelves from Sears cut off at different heights that I use to raise the smaller plants and create a little interest out there with plants at different heights.

It's lovely, it's fragrant and it's just right for me, because while I don't have pain, I can't kneel or spade, or undertake much exertion at one time. Because it's so near I can pop out for a few minutes at a time even in the worst weather to tend to something or just to look and admire.

You could grow your irises and any other plants you love in pots or in a raised bed near your back door (read about the lasagne method on the soil forum, as suggested).

I would also recommend that you check out the balcony forum. I was astonished to find that "the balconeers" as they call themselves grow every kind of shrub and perennial in pots out on their balconies-- lilacs, azales, hostas, lilies, daffodils, lily of the valley, evergreens, honeysuckles-- and winter them out there in zones 6 and 7, maybe even colder.

I hope this gives you some ideas that you can use for yourself.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. I have dug up some irises and put them in containers, and have begun replanning the garden, but most of it may have to wait for fall. Hollyhocks, foxglves, daisies, echinacea, all evergreens and herbs, and maybe even the weedy yarrow and coreopsis are keepers, given how good they look right now, and the fact that they either don't have to be deadheaded or are tall enough that I don't have to bend down very far to deadhead them. I am interested in hearing more about the faucet tees as well as the plastic shelves from Sears. Thanks!
Andrea

Hi, andreap. Glad to be able to share.

The plastic shelves are those utility shelves they sell that are about 18" x 3'. The shelf part is about two inches deep, and is not solid, but has a kind of honeyweb of plastic and holes. That makes them perfect for plants because you have good drainage and air cirulation.

They come in a set of 4 shelves with these tube legs that are maybe 24" tall. (Not sure of the exact height). Most people would use them in a garage or basement with the 4 shelves all connected into a bookcase shelf arrangement.

What I do is make separate "tables" out of each shelf. My husband saws some of the legs (they are hollow and saw easily) so that the "tables" are different heights. One set of legs is cut in half, making two "tables" 12 inches tall. Then another set is cut at 3/4, making two more tables, one 18" and one 6". With two sets of shelves I can have tables 24, 18, 12 and 6" in heights that are modular and can be arranged all sorts of ways.

These are about $20 a set. In the winter I use them indoors at the windows. They are light, so easily moved, and sturdy so they can handle the weight of the pots.

Then I just arrange these in various ways, putting the smaller, higher maintenance things on the tall shelves, and taller things lower down.

It makes a really nice arrangement of heights and shapes that I can change as the plants grow and change. I have them on three sides of my deck, with space between them for the tall things. When they are not being used, they carry easily and store in a small space.

We cut another set of shalves to make a "potting" table just the right height for me so I can do the potting in a big bin of soil without backache and have shelves beneath.

I just use them as cheap, personalizable, works-for- everything, hosable and portable surfaces everywhere for gardening.

Thanks for the tip on those tables, mehitabel! Andrea, I, too, have a multiple faucet thingy like jeribelle. Mine's at the back hose. One hose is for the yard and garden and the other hose goes on the deck. It's so much easier than tossing a hose up over the rail and such. Though the turny things that you need to turn to pick between which hose you're using can be a bit tough to turn at times; it's worth the extra finger effort for me. Have you ever considered a bog or water garden? They're much easier than I first thought, especially if you have lots of shade (cuts down on the algae growth) and the fish can become wonderful pets, too. So much grows in the water. I even have impatiens growing in a trickle tower. Cannas, swamp and siberian iris, tomatoes, mint all love water. A raised bog is so easy to create, just build a box to a height that's comfortable for you; line it with heavy plastic; toss in a layer of sand then topsoil, add water and you're ready to plant. We now have two bogs, one for lotus which has standing water in it and the other is a muddy bog with umbrella palm, sweetflag, lizard's tail, siberian iris, and pitcher plant. And then there's the raised pond which has iris, lizard's tail, taro, tomato, impatiens, canna. Other than the added pleasure of seeing the fish glide ever so gracefully through the water, no weeding is just the best!My DDH also helped me install a sedum bed right in front of the lotus. Autumn joy sedum seems to be infalable. I'm on crutches and I know that as I age, bending without falling will be more and more difficult - I'm a major clutz, have been all my life. So I'm slowly getting all of the plants that I actually want to care for "hands on" into raised beds. The others will just have to fend for themselves in "natural" areas.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Pond Garden

Andrea,
I have an established garden and my DW has RA. If sitting is not a problem try one of those plastic carts designed to be used in the garden. We got ours several years ago for around $25.00. You can just scoot around.
It's none of my business but....get to a doctor! The new medications they have now can actually prevent damage from RA. How I wish they had that 20 years ago when my DW first got it.
Jay

Thanks again for all your suggestions and concern. With the deluges we had this summer, at least watering wasn't a problem. And unfortunately new addtions like shelves or a pond are out of the financial question, but I've been using upsidedown pots as stands to add height to my potted plants. Jay, sorry to hear about your wife; I have gone to a Dr. and my RA test came back negative, as did some others that were done, to my relief. I find that sitting at my desk, then doing heavy labor of gardening with nothing in between--stretching, leisurely walking, de-stressing--provokes problems for me. It may be all in my head, though of course doctors can never test for everything at once, esp. when autoimmune stuff runs in your family. The key clue was to go on vacation and spend all day walking without any pain afterwards, compared to what I normally do. But as to the garden, I have made lists of keepers versus junk, and given away many things, while transplanting others and putting in some evergreens and easy care plants. Also discovered the wonders of cornmeal--sprinkle it around anything with fungus and it gets healthier (no bending, no lifting)! Some of those irises can stay after all. And I just read an archived post on what perennials do not have to be divided and thought I'd share this unmentioned tip I discovered through laziness/exhaustion: just pull out the center or unhealthy-looking portions of plants like dianthus or moss phlox instead of digging up the whole clump. The portions around the sides are the freshest anyway. If there is a space left in the middle, you can plant bulbs or some other plant in it that will bloom when the other is dormant. I threw some crocosmia and perennial/wild ageratum in the center of my moss phlox, and thanks to the rain, it took off. This doesn't work with thugs like iris or ditch lilies, of course. I think the best solution for those is to put out a sign: free for the digging!
Andrea

thanks to a bad fall on the patio this spring, I now have serious arthritis in my lower back and neck. At least things only separated and didn't break, so...I've discovered the easiest things for me to work with are tall plants like Brugmansias that have blossoms that hang down, vines that put blossoms up at my eye level, and container plants on the cursed patio I fell on. I sit on a roll around thing that you put big pots on to make them movable, and I can scootch around pretty well. I also use a shower stool for sitting because it's (ahem) big enough to be comfortable sitting and light weight enough to carry around, & can be left outdoors indefinately. I tried a lawn service after my fall, but they did more harm than good, spilling lawnmower gas over most of my front lawn, so I am still looking for any suggestions for lawn/garden care. Thanks to all who posted tips here.

Oh an established one can easily be altered by square foot plots and never stepping or crawling on the plot. Just mulching and llittle by little raising the level adding things as a lasagna layer type of management.