Growing older with your garden : practical wisdom from a lifetime of gardening

From the winner of the National Garden Club's Award of Excellence Although the garden may beckon as strongly as ever, the tasks involved—pulling weeds, pushing wheelbarrows, digging holes, moving heavy pots—become increasingly difficult, or even impossible, with advancing age. But the idea of giving it up is unthinkable for most gardeners. So what's the alternative? In Gardening for a Lifetime, Sydney Eddison draws on her own forty years of gardening to provide a practical and encouraging roadmap for scaling back while keeping up with the gardening activities that each gardener loves most. Like replacing demanding plants like delphiniums with sturdy, relatively carefree perennials like sedums, rudbeckias, and daylilies. Or taking the leap and hiring help—another pair of hands, even for a few hours a week, goes a long way toward getting a big job done. This new edition features an additional chapter describing how Sydney's struggles with hip and back problems forced her to walk the walk. As a friend of hers says, “Last summer you wrote the book. Now, I'm happy to see that you've read it.” Gentle, personable, and practical, Gardening for a Lifetime will be welcomed by all gardeners looking to transform gardening from a list of daunting chores into the gratifying, joyful activity it was meant to be. A Look Backward : Tracing The Garden's History -- Changes : Rethinking The Perennial Borders -- A Step Toward Simplicity : Substituting Shrubs For Perennials -- Minimum Care : Appreciating The Shady Border -- Woodland Gardens : Living In Harmony With The Forest -- Sanity Saver : Learning To Make Lists -- Juggler's Dilemma : Searching For Help -- Lessons From The Garden : Accepting Imperfection -- From Lawn To Meadow : Learning From Experience -- Pick Your Battles : Managing Mature Plants -- What Next? : Deciding Whether To Stay Put Or Move On -- New Gardens : Keeping Them Small And Simple -- Borrowed Landscapes : Using The Garden Setting -- Container Gardening : Arranging Potted Plants With A Purpose -- Miniature Landscapes : Exploring New Ways To Garden -- A Summing Up : Making The Most Of What You Have Left. By Sydney Eddison ; Illustrations By Kimberly Day Proctor. Includes Index. In prose so resonant that you may find yourself in tears of recognition, lifelong gardener Sydney Eddison offers practical and heartfelt advice that will help you transform gardening from a daunting list of chores into a rewarding, joy-filled activity