This website has nothing to do with TV personality Paul James,
             The Gardener Guy of Tulsa, Oklahoma

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Aging Gardeners

1. We need to decide what we can realistically do each year, and not take on more than that. That's the hardest part, for me. I am a garden expansionist at heart. I'll always have a hard time saying no to a bodacious new perennial.

2. Hire someone younger and more vigorous to do some of the things you DON'T like to do. I found an 12-year old boy who loves gardening and is a hard worker. Even two hours of his help a week is terrific, especially if you have an iffy back. And there are still plenty of good kids who'd like to work hard for some pocket money. Choose a younger one, and train him (or her).

3. Grow the things that do well for you. No point in babying tree peonies along (unless you are passionate about them) if they always die and need to be replaced. If you like phlox, grow lots of phlox, it's easy. Or daylilies - they need no babying.

4. On the other hand, don't grow things that have imperial ambitions. My obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) is not obedient at all - it wants to spread by root, and take over my garden. It's a great late-summer cut flower and I love it, but it does spread too much. Others of the same ilk? Bee balm, pink mallow, and evening primrose (Oenothera spp.) do the same. I grow them, but they make work for me. Some I have already banished to far corners of the property where perennials arm wrestle for sunshine and have to compete with the weeds themselves.

5. Don't grow things that attract lots of noxious insects. I have decided to pretty much give up on growing Oriental and Asiatic lilies, because the lily leaf beetle is devastating mine, and hand-picking twice a day just hasn't worked for me. Better to grow daylilies or something that doesn't interest them. I know people who have given up on roses because of the Japanese beetles, or viburnums because of the beetle that eats them.

6. It's okay to pick one season to focus on. Don't like the heat? Plant spring flowers, and ignore the August bloomers.

7. Plant your flower beds more densely. My front bed is so full of perennials that the weeds have a hard time - they are largely shaded out.

8. Mulch. After a thorough weeding, weeds can be controlled with a thick layer of newspapers covered with an inch or two of bark chips.

9. Grow more flowering shrubs, they're easy. There are flowering shrubs that bloom in every month of spring, summer and fall, and many that are attractive in winter. And many garden centers will send out a couple of twenty-somethings to plant them for you at a reasonable cost. Most shrubs require little more than an annual haircut. If weeds grow up around them, you'll barely notice. They require no fertilizing and no fall clean up other than raking up their leaves. They are low maintenance for sure.

10. Involve the grandchildren, starting when they're young. If your grandkids enjoy time with Grampy and Nana in the garden, you'll be able to get them to help once they're old enough.

11. Add some whimsy and humor. We should be able to be a bit silly once we've reached the age of maturity. And as my friend Jenny Green of North Danville said recently, "All those flamingoes in the garden draw your eye away from the 5-foot tall weeds." You can get away with more if visitors can see you don't take gardening too seriously.

12. Remember that farmers markets and farm stands will provide you with veggies all summer - with no work and at minimal cost. But grow one tomato in a pot. Choose a patio type tomato such as Early Cascade or a cherry tomato such as Sun Gold. You won't have such good luck with Big Boy or other full-sized variety. Sun Gold plants get huge, but they produce early and can be pruned to stay in size. Ed Smith's book, "Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers" will tell you everything you need to know about growing veggies in pots.

Lastly, lighten up. Gardening is my passion, but I'll never let my garden keep me from going on vacation - or spending an evening with friends. There are few things in life as good as tomato eaten while still hot from the sun, so I'll always grow them - even if, when I reach a certain age, I need help to do so.

Henry Homeyer is the VT/NH associate editor of "People, Places and Plants" magazine, and the author of Notes from the Garden: Observations and Reflections of an Organic Gardener.