Gardening for Old Folks (Adaptative)

[cavemanrich]

Wanted to share some pix of my Rose of Sharon. In full bloom at this time. I have these growing in different areas around my home. This pix below shows that they can grow to 15 feet in height. They are growing in a 3 foot wide flower bed that runs along the length of the garage- plus. Most of my other areas are newer and lower in height. About 8 foot average.

Next 3 pix are of the different colors. The lavender actually comes in more than one shade of that color. All these came from a single plant that I got from someone about 25 years ago. It was a lavender plant. It died since,,,, but left soooooo many offspring.

 

[N F C]

Beautiful @cavemanrich

 

[sharron]

Beautiful @cavemanrich

x2

 

[chickadoodles]

Beautiful cavemanrich.

 

[bruceha2000]

What they said!

 

[lazy gardener]

Gorgeous!!!

 

[MissChick@dee]

Hiya Folks. I’m fairly new to BYC. I’m just a gal with a patch (about 1/3 acre) of Nevada desert and a dream. I started with nothing but a willingness to work hard. In 4 years I’ve made progress. I have my little companions (my chickens) whom I added last year. I just love the little brats! So in looking around this thread caught my interest. Just thought I’d say hello and get started here.

 

[lazy gardener]

Welcome. Glad to have you with us. Those birds will do wonders for your soil.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Hey Thanks! Yep I love those little nuggets of goodness (and eggs too lol). Got a composter and it never took off until my chickens. The Dirt is so poor here every bit of Soil I has passed through my hands. Gardening with chickens is a challenge I’ll be busy this fall laying wire etc. wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks again!

 

[MissChick@dee]

I'm 47, but as of late I've been wrestling with chronic back pain and noticing how stiff and sore my legs are whenever I stand up from sitting on the floor. I'm planning garden beds to build before spring arrives and remembered modified beds a dear friend had made for her.

She had Parkinson's and asked for tall beds with wide boards around the perimeter to use as a bench. The beds were three to four feet in height. I think she had soil placed inside them down to the ground, but I've read about beds that are designed on stands to reduce the amount of soil needed.

Large farm style dinner tables are about the size of a garden bed. Three placed side by side with space between them would allow for a nice amount of veggies to be grown.

And there's a gardening method called Hugelkultur that requires some work to build up the beds, but it's essentially mounded gardening. The food grows up and around the mounds, making it easier to reach, and it also requires much less watering. It's akin to growing a food jungle where compatible veggies are grown next to each other and clumped and you don't have to maintain neat and tidy rows.

When I move to Idaho I'd like to build a greenhouse with the walls lined with shelves and a large island in the middle, so I can grow vegetables without having to bend over. Most veggies don't require deep rooting and would do well in beds on raised platforms.

Two years ago this August I had back surgery (2 rods 8 screws) I use this little gardening stool I absolutely love it!