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Accessible Gardening: Getting older and need to do things differently!, 3 by Amargia

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In reply to: Getting older and need to do things differently!

Forum: Accessible Gardening

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Amargia wrote:
(Jim) Hello, CaitlinsGarden. Welcome to the forum. MK is a little under the weather so I’m hijacking Amargia today to say “hi” and put in my two cents worth. Mulch works best around shrubs in the outlying areas in my opinion. In beds and borders closer to the house planting thickly and dense groundcovers work best here where we are surrounded by woods and overgrown meadows. Mulching thick enough to suppress weeds is like an invitation to the field mice and deer mice. They eat bulbs and sometimes get into the house. I once had to get a fearless, acrobatic deer mouse out of the house. It took me days of Keystone Cop type antics to get him out. I never want to go through that again. Lizards and toads like the lilyturf and mondo grass we use as dense, weed suppressing groundcovers, but I don’t mind them around the house. This is coming from the Deep South where a very thick layer of mulch is needed to be effective. I think mulching is a better option in cooler climes.

I’ve come to appreciate the sense of what MK calls “Aristotelian Gardening”, though I don’t believe Aristotle was talking about gardening when he said, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” It seemed backwards to me at first to think more plants might lead to less work. I thought it was MK’s way of rationalizing her plant buying habit, but there is some logic to it, especially with companion planting.

Choosing easy to grow plants instead of Prima Donnas save on work also.



BTW: It might be time to ask your doctor about anti-inflammatories for the arthritis. Amargia Farm runs on Meloxicam and Glucosamine chondroitin with MSM. The last is non-prescription and a little pricy, but lessens the pain and increases functionality.

Photos: Easy-to-grow daylilies.