Downsizing Your Landscape: Home Maintenance Designed for Retirees
Choosing low maintenance plants can help you enjoy gardening in your retirement.
What do you want to do when you retire? While many people love gardening, some outdoor tasks may not be high on your list of engaging activities. But clogged gutters can overflow and ruin flower beds and other landscaping. Unkempt lawns can leave your home looking shabby. As you head toward retirement, how can you stay in your home and make maintenance easier?
The Retirement Shift
Who wants to downsize their landscaping? A significant number of people in the USA, that’s who. The number of retired people in the United States is growing. In 2015, around 56 million people are receiving social security. 15 years from now, this number will be closer to 75 million. While your retirement years can mean more time to garden, you may not want to be stuck up on a ladder.
Outsource Your Landscaping
Of course, many seniors decide that standing on a ladder is not for them, so they outsource the most physically challenging parts of their landscaping. Hiring a student or a gutter-cleaning company is one way to avoid the risks of climbing ladders, and it can allow you to focus on what you most enjoy doing in your garden. While this approach can help ensure you won’t have to deal with the consequences of clogged and overflowing gutters, this option can be expensive.
When you’re seeking accessibility, choose container or raised bed gardens.
Make a New Landscaping Plan
When you retire, it’s the perfect time to think about how you’re going to enjoy your garden. Sit down and make a plan that outlines how you’ll make your everyday gardening experience more simple and enjoyable. Xeriscaping and natural gardens allow you to enjoy your garden without needing to water it or coddle it through temperature and moisture changes. Choose low-maintenance, slow-growing plants to require less annual pruning. Add structures like gutter covers to reduce the time that you spend on annual gutter maintenance.
Make Your Landscaping Accessible
As you age, you want to be able to continue living in your own home and using your own garden. If you love gardening but suffer from arthritis or bad knees, install high raised beds that allow you to avoid bending as you garden. If you’re on a budget or live in a smaller area, potted plants on stands will also allow you to garden without bending. Install hoses throughout your garden or invest in a watering system so that you don’t need to move water back and forth. Remember to install benches as well, so that you can relax and enjoy what you’ve created.
Focus on What You Enjoy
Retirement is about enjoying life. If you love to prune your shrubs and you’re still able to do that, plan to continue. If you’d prefer to have a garden full of simple annuals or install a low-maintenance herb garden for your kitchen enjoyment, do that. Your garden is your playground, and it should be a place of enjoyment and relaxation.
When you’re looking for landscaping maintenance solutions that can help you avoid risks related to climbing ladders, contact Harry Helmet. Our gutter cover systems eliminate the need for annual gutter cleaning, reducing your annual maintenance. We’ll let you focus on what you enjoy about your garden.
