Re: [SG] Low Maintenance Gardening

Bobbie and All No Work Wannabees,

I have an older British book on low maintenance gardening.  As near as I can
glean from it's pages the trick is to use clumpers and and not runners.  That
being sort of useless I will offer one more thought.

You will probably be able to keep gardening as long as the garden brings you
joy.
I have a ninety plus Mom in a nursing home who gardens on her windowsill.
This year some of the men have begun a vegetable garden, they raised the
plants in a solarium.  Just gazing at that garden is bringing pleasure.

There is book you would find an inspiration, "Earth on Her Hands" , The
American Woman in Her Garden.  The author is Starr Ockenga who lives in
upstate New York, the Hudson Valley.

This book consists of a interviews with women who garden in the US.  There
are pages of photographs and some advice from each woman.  The news is in the
photographs of each gardener.  There is no end to gardening, have a look.
You will be impressed.

Sir Peter Smithers who lives on the Swiss-Italian border created a retirement
garden that was intended to grow into self care.  The trees were to grow tall
and the understory was created with this in mind.  He maintains a greenhouse
to try new things.  This is all detailed in a book entitled "Adventures of a
Gardener".  He outlines a series of principles that he followed in creating
his last garden.

One of the women in the the Ockenga book has constructed waist high beds to
grow alpine plants.  She can walk around them and needs not bend her knees.

Both of these books are expensive unless found remaindered somewhere.  Both
have appeared on the Hamilton site at $10.00 more or less and their shipping
charge is $3.00 for any amount of books.  They normally list a great many
garden books.

http://www.hamiltonbook.com/search.html

That is the search page I believe or at least it is the page I have
bookmarked.

Claire Peplowski
East Nassau, NY
z4
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