Talk about the aging and health issue thing urghhhh, I don't have the number of roses you have but I've already taken out 2 rambling roses, 1 climbing and 2 shrub roses. I'm slowly turning my long perennial border into a veggie bed, mulching the whole thing with straw. Might not be the prettiest thing you've ever seen but it sure keeps the weeds down :).

Annette

I can see where that many roses are quite a bit of work. I wonder if you couldn't find a neighborhood young person who might like to learn how to grow roses and help you maintain them? Or a family member?

The perennials you describe may not be as much work as the roses, but the Iris are a bit of maintenance with having to dig them up at times. Also the iris and peonies are such a short period of bloom.

I started our garden about 7 years ago and I was already thinking about aging concerns, so my goal has been to establish a low maintenance garden. I don't know when I am going to get there because so far it is a constant amount of work...lol. I'm always changing it and moving things. We put down mulch to try to reduce weeding, but in another couple of years, the weeds are coming through and have to spread the mulch again. I'm working toward groundcovers to reduce the mulch, but not there yet.

To me perennials are the most work. Roses are probably more, but I only have 6. I have started replacing some of the perennials with shrubs. I try to choose those that have more than one season of interest. I thought I could establish a low maintenance perennial bed, and for the most part, it is low maintenance, until things need to be divided or moved, which can be a big job without help.

Another thought, is to try to use the Freecycle group in some way. You could ask for 'free' labor in exchange for giving plants, divisions, and cuttings from your garden. Or if you do decide to let go of some of the roses, you can offer them free if someone can come and dig them out themselves. That way you would not have to do that and you would have a free spot to just add an easy care shrub. You could slowly start to reduce the amount of roses and get rid of those that are the most maintenance first.

Mary Lu,

Too bad we are not closer, I would be happy to take a few you were wanting dug up -- and could come over and help care for those you kept, as well.

I do find freecycle and craigslist helpful for giving away, etc. Harder to barter for work, but a VERY good idea!!

Good luck whatever you choose!

My mother's perrenial bed, anchored with rudbeckias that spread whereever they want :), is very low maintenance. An older friend of mine grows a lot of sedum because the ones she chose have neat, compacy growing habits and need zero maintenance, not even watering a drought. My all-perrenial gardens are medium maintenance, mostly because I keep increasing and changing it every year haha. There is a little weeding, even with mulch, and some clean up in fall and spring. In three years I have not HAD to divide much, but I'm sure I will eventually.

Age is not for sissies! I plan on more low maintence also.
I recently read an article about prunning roses with a hedge trimmer.

" The last method, and the easiest, is aptly called the easy-care method. Simply cut the bush in half, straight across with a hedge trimmer. Leave all wood, but if you wish you can cut out all dead wood. Interestingly enough, experts that have experimented with both the moderate and easy care method, report that there are no noticeable differences later on in the growth and bloom of the bush. "

Here is a link that might be useful: prunning

Oh Mary Lu, I hear you! I am having trouble working for long periods now and the bending or kneeling is a no-go for more than a few minutes. I tend to sit right in the dirt most of the time and hope no one is watching as I get up-not a pretty sight! ;) I keep trying to get my garden to where it will be a relatively easy-to-maintain garden with mostly shrubs and perennials, but I already can't keep up up with everything. Part of my problem is that my two galloping gardeners continue to trample/break/dig up in places and then I am yet again beset with weeds or dog park-like hard dirt in areas.

I like the idea of bartering on Freecycle. Another idea might be contacting a master gardening class to see if they might have a need for a teaching garden for roses such as yours. Having never taken such a class, I have no idea if they need something like that. Maybe high school kids who need to perform community service as part of their graduation requirements. Just thinking aloud here.

Thanks for all the ideas everyone. Just mulling it over at this stage, but with my back and legs it gets more difficult each year. Problem is that when it is all "prettied" up, I love it. Not sure if I am quite ready to tear it all apart yet or not!

We started the garden 10 years ago, and it has really come a long way. Just not sure what direction would be the best to go now.

These were taken early last summer when the roses were starting to bloom.
{{gwi:682798}}
{{gwi:682800}}

I can certainly identify with the legs problem. It takes me a lot longer to do everything now. But, oh my, your garden room is just so very pretty.

I have a neighbor a block away who shares your passion. He maintains roses at his own house along with those of many others. Down here their care is even more time consuming with the need for regular spraying.

Last year I decided it was time to start making gardening a little easier for me. As recently planted trees begin to offer more shade I'm able to reduce the number of perennials and replace them with shrubs that require little maintenance. This spring the cleanup work seemed much less than in years past. Could be in part because we had such a mild winter, but I think the transitioning to shrubs is also part of it.

Oh my, that is a lovely garden. No wonder you are torn about this. Time to cultivate a young rose gardener wannabe!

I agree with Cyn, you have such a wonderful garden, I would be loathe to change it much. Especially the structure of it. I would really concentrate on finding someone who might just love the idea of helping you in your garden. I would LOVE to do it, and when I was a young gardener, I would have jumped at the chance to learn from someone with so much experience. So there must be people out there that would feel the same way.

mary lou, you know your garden room is one of my very favorites. I just have a few shrub roses and find taking care of those frustrating what with die back and black spot just when you think they are going to do great. Hey, I just learned how to prune properly after all these years. :) Anyway, I understand your feelings. First of all - it is just the beginning of the season. I think we all get that sinking feeling when the work begins. Second - perennials can be just as time consuming esp. the weeding! ugh. That's why I gave up on long borders, couldn't keep them looking nice. However I do notice that your beds are mulched so well, that's a big help as I'm sure you know. I agree with others that if you can find or hire some help with the roses it would be wonderful to keep the garden room as is.

For me, my garden is at that age where ground covers need to be removed in some areas because weeds are beyond my control. Last year I began ripping out English Ivy in a small round bed and this year I will begin reshaping that bed by further digging out dirt (and grass) and making it half its original size. Also a border that Candytuft has spread too far and has grass going up thru it is going to be re-dug and more soil added, some new Lupines planted, and then the whole thing mulched heavily. That should be good for several years. ha.

well,lets say I had to. Quack grass got onto my lower part of my flower bed which was on an incline and my arthritis was bad this year and at 81 my girls thought I should cut back on some beds,by the way my husband says flowers are weeds so I don't get any help from him. My rose beds stay and we are in process of moving my lilies and perenials up closer to house where it is easy for me to walk by and take care of them. I LOVE my flowers. My girls live too far away too help much and they have young families of their on

sandi, yup takes longer to do everything, doesn't it? I have arterial blockages in both legs, so there is almost constant pain. More so when I walk and climb up and down ladders (like today pruning the bittersweet on the fence)

natal, I do have a lot of easy care plants in the rest of the yard, but the garden room has been my baby. The trees we had there were lost several years ago. So full sun now.

cyn and prairiemoon, wish there were young neighbors. We live in an older section and it's all just us old folks! :-) No youngsters to be found. Our family and grands live 4-5 hours away.

schoolhouse, yes the mulch makes a big difference. Just the ever needed pruning and deadheading make the roses more work. I have a no spray garden, so for that part no extra work. You could be right, it might just be a touch of spring overload. Have all the other gardens whipped into shape, fertilized and a fresh layer of mulch. Just the garden room left. Once the spring cleanup is done it is not really all that much work (well....watering is a bear though as we have very sandy soil) I have 1/2 a trailer load of mulch waiting to go on the garden room once I get it all cleaned up.

finchelover, I hope when I am your age I am able to continue gardening. I am hoping that once I retire it will be easier. For now I work full time and fit the gardening in during the evenings and weekends along with all the other "stuff".

Well, my break is over, back to climbing the ladder and pruning the fence and then the clean up. Will be very happy when that is done. I need to prune it about 3 times a year, else it threatens to eat the neighbors!

Have you thought about planting new trees in the garden room? It could be the beginning of change. And trees would give you winter interest.

Can you just wait another couple of years? :)
Renee

Well your garden room is so beautiful! Whatever you decide to do I think I would make it a gradual changeover. Maybe pick one rose that is a lot of work and have it removed and then say plant a small ornamental shrub there..something like Sixteen Candles clethra with lovely smell and late summer bloom. See how it looks and feels and then maybe next year remove another rose and find another beautiful shrub. That way it wouldn't be overwhelming and you could see how you like it. Shrubs are a lot easier to take care of and there are many beautiful ones..even the new Drift series of KnockOut roses might be an option..they stay smaller and require no spray or special care.
Joann

One of my customer told Scout Leader she was having trouble keeping up with flower beds. Boy going for his Eagle Scout award. Helped her all summer long divided plants, etc. And did get help with schooling by doing it. He still helps her years later.I have divided mine. Sent some to storm victims in Joplin .

Mary Lu, I agree with the idea of putting in some interesting shrubs. I don't find perennials too time-consuming if there is a good bit of mulch to keep weeds down. Maybe a mix of both shrubs and perennials? could you put in some of the really easy roses like The Fairy or carpet roses that don't require a lot of care and bloom for a very long period? You have such a knack with gardening and design I'm sure whatever you decide to do will be beautiful.

Mary Lu, you have inspired me-much to DH's chagrin! I have some azaleas that have grown huge over the last 15 years. That is the good news. The bad news is they are too close to the steps to the lower yard and are blocking them somewhat now, so I think I may move them down in the yard and replace with perennials. I don't mind the overgrown look, but most people would probably say I should and eventually I suspect it will become a necessity, so now may be the time!

That said, they don't hold a candle to your roses and garden! Mine is much more wild, I'm afraid.

I agree, just looking at photo's of Mary Lu's garden inspire me to keep going. Thanks Mary Lu.

Annette

mary_lu, I and everyone reading probably, understand how you feel overextended in maintaining all this. Working full time!!! And hurting!!!

I hope you'll agree with some of the ideas, e.g., replacing labor intensive stuff with something simpler. Also take a good hard look at your budget. What could you do without to have $$$s available for a part-time gardener? If you hire a kid, probably would have to spend a lot of time supervising, but that could be very nice also. My best, Rosie

Cyn, have you tried pruning them? If they're really big they might not be happy being transplanted. We have Formosa azaleas and they're big too. I prune a little after flowering, but still maintain the natural shape.

Mary Lu,
I can relate to you. I'm changing parts of my garden this year as well. I'm adding more low maintenance plants, like dayliles and coneflowers. Plants that can really take our hot Summers. I'm also moving some of my peonies and replacing them with Annabelle hydrangeas. My problem is finding the time to do all of this. We've had so much rain that the when we do get a day of no rain, the ground is to wet to work with. I'm seriously going to have to take a Friday or Monday off when there's no rain forecasted, in order to get my garden in order.

I have thought of that Natal, but we have pretty good luck transplanting azaleas. Their shallow roots make it relatively easy. They would be perfect near the fence between our place and our neighbor's where I could let them go to their hearts' content. Part of me knows I probably should just prune them, but the other part loves their size. I will mull all this over until next weekend. I will be seeing the people we got them from all those years ago and see what they say.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Cynthia

natal, we did consider replanting a tree after we lost both trees over a period of 2 years. But they were such huge old trees, that we would never grow anything like that in our life time.
{{gwi:646147}}

Renee, not quite ready to do it yet, but am thinking hard about it.

ghoghunter, if I do it, it would have to be gradual, as I don't have the $$ to do it all at one time.

koszta kid, wish there were kids in the neighborhood. But it is an older one with mostly old folks. There are a few young families with little ones, but that's about it.

thyme2dig, thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm just not sure at this point what to do. Hard to envision the garden room without roses, but will have to see how this summer goes.

cyn247, hope your DH isn't too upset? :-) One thing I have learned is that a garden always changes. Sometimes those changes can be exciting as well as others can be heartbreaking.

Annette, thank you for those kind words. I truly never envisioned our gardens would grow to this point when we started. Way more than I ever expected. But yes, we just keep going. Today some of my deep purple and yellow iris are opening, and it brought a smile. Perhaps as mentioned earlier in the thread, it is just that I am a little/lot overwhelmed with all the spring work and this too shall pass?

Rosie, no kids available. But as you said I would probably spend as much time supervising as I would doing it myself. Although DH has learned a lot about gardening and is trying to help as much as he can. He has even learned the name of most plants and smiles when he gets it right!

bellarosa, I end up using at least 1-2 weeks of my vacation every year working in the gardens. It is usually not a chore, but something I enjoy. Guess I just need to have an attitude adjustment and get back to enjoying it. I think part of my problem is that I am a perfectionist, and I struggle with some of the limitations my changing health has imposed. I just need to get past that mentally.

Well, the rain has stopped. I need to get back out and finish pruning the fence. I had to quit last evening as a thunderstorm moved in. Rained off and on all night and this morning. Now the sun is trying to peek out. I will probably get very wet, but that is ok as the temp is fairly warm. Want to get at least that much accomplished this weekend.

That was a gorgeous tree! We've lost a few to hurricanes, but I've always replanted. I'll never see them reach full maturity, but it's amazing how much they grow every year.

natal, when the large limb came down it gently laid across the garden shed without any damage to the shed. I think I cried a gazillion tears that day. Was it a mess to clean up! What we didn't know was that years previously the tree had started to split and a PO had cabled it together. Had we known that, we might have been able to save the tree before it spit and came down.
{{gwi:667880}}

{{gwi:682802}}

I hear you too, Mary Lu! Same thing here. I have been trying to make my garden as simple to maintain as possible. I simply do not have the desire to spend all my spare time outside working in the garden anymore. I still love the garden, but I don't want to feel enslaved by it. And, like you, I have nobody to help me with it either, and no one willing to learn. Simplification is the key, I believe, and that doesn't mean we have to made do with less beauty, just a different kind of beauty.

Contrary to you, I also have to deal with a dry hot climate, with basically no rain during the Summer months (well, we didn't get rain in the past Winter either) so I have to deal with drought issues as well.

I haven't made any drastic changes over the last couple of years, just let the garden evolve and I have evolved with it. For example, if a plant dies, most of the time it doesn't get replaced with another, be it the same one or a different species. As the garden was so packed full this actually gives the other plants a better chance, because they get more room to spread. And I need to water and prune less. Also, when adding new plants I look at them for more than one season interest. Plants that need a lot of pruning and cuddling are out. Plants that are water hogs (e.g. hydrangeas) are out as well (I'm torn about planting a grandiflora hydrangea, but have managed to resist the urge so far, but that's another story). I'm keeping the roses and hydrangeas I have, but I'm not adding new ones. I rely on shrubs instead of perennials or annuals. I got rid of a few window boxes. I'm keeping pots only in and around the patio and only a few ones.

All in all, I now audition plants before they are added to the garden. They really need to convince me they deserve a place there before I admit them. Do I still love seeing a beautiful garden overflowing with beautiful plants? Yes, and my garden still looks nice to me. I'm just learning to be more rational about it and enjoying it more when I get a chance to work there, instead of looking at it as a chore, which is not the purpose of gardening at all. So, give yourself a rest and go ahead - make your life simpler.

Eduarda

My gardens are not changing per se as most of them are in development. However, as we develop new areas, I am trying to keep in the back of my mind the maintenance needs. I am trying to limit high water plants to one area and making other garden beds that can survive on their own should life intervene. Life seems to intervene often right now so I make areas that can survive even if I do not water them and I am trying to choose plants that do not re-seed too freely. Re-seeding is generally not a big problem in my climate but on a plant like May Night sage, it has to be trimmed before going to seed or it takes over, so now it is being moved to areas where that is okay. My other strategy is that when life does intervene, I give myself permission to not make everything perfect, just making sure everything lives, unless I need the therapy of tending to something that does not talk back.

Mary Lu- Your gardens are beautiful...especially your rose garden! I'm sure you have your favorites, but I'd definitely keep the climbing roses and many of the ones, in the front. If you want to scale back, maybe replace some of the roses with less time-consuming perennials and smaller shrubs.

You would still have a lovely garden without all the roses (maybe 1/2 as many to start?) and add in the other flowers and shrubs to make more of a cottage garden. Still lots of beautiful rose blooms, but other colors and textures mixed in...and hopefully, less work :)

As for my garden, I'm still digging out dandelions and grass (it finally quit raining) and I'm hoping to start the new front bed by next week. If I ever finish that...then maybe add the vegetable garden area to the kitchen garden!

Mine have been changing over time with more shrubs. Several years ago we planted several Serbian Spruce in the gardens. As they grow, more perennials come out. I always hop e to take care of my gardens myself...just not as much garden.