This is one of those subjects for which you have a passion….or not. I am not a landscape expert, but after 40 plus years of yard care experience, I’ve made more than my share of mistakes and have learned at least a small handful of lessons. Besides, one of the purposes of this blog is for ME to get smarter too- so your experiences are valued.
So what does landscaping have to do with retired life? During my working years there was usually just time on Saturdays for mowing, trimming and the occasional planting. I didn’t put much time into planning, and just accepted what grew, as long as the home looked good from the curb. Now, in my retirement, there’s a lot more time available per week to put into yard work, even if the body can’t do nearly as much as in the younger days. And up to a point, I actually enjoy doing yardwork.
On top of that, this is where that life long learning kicks in for me (see post #90)- I’ve very much enjoyed learning more about landscaping while committing more time to it.
The Big Picture. If you’ve ever built a house, you’ll have had a yard landscaping component, usually one of the very last stages of construction, and one that can set you back a pretty penny. You need to have a vision of what you want- how it should complement the house and blend in with the neighborhood or surroundings, weather patterns, etc.- and how much time/effort you’re willing to put into this yard year-after-year for the next 3, 10, or 20 years (never thought that far out during the working days). Filling in that vision, you get to make choices for ground cover, trees, plants, flowers, watering, drainage, etc.- and these choices differ greatly between two-season and four-season locations.
Many of you lived in the same home during work years and through transition into retirement- it would be interesting (at least to me) to understand how the yard, trees, plants, etc. evolved over that time. Only once in my life have I lived in the same location for more than 3 years: we lived in the same home in Florida for 20 years, and in that time we added an in-ground pool and lots more shrubbery in our two-season location. All the bushes and our one tree grew considerably, even with constant trimming back, so the before/after curbside view changed significantly over time.
A New Season of Life. Now we’ve started another 20 year period, in a four-season location, and in a different time of life. Below are some of the landscaping decision-making steps we went through for the past three years during retirement home construction and early years in the house:
- Yard contouring during construction. With a sharply sloping lot, we ended up with a steep grade down from the house to the street. We choose a sloping rock bed instead of a retainer wall in the front yard, but I still didn’t have any real vision as to how I wanted the front to look.
- We moved into the house in early January, meaning no landscaping was going to transpire for a couple of months. Most neighboring yards were dormant, but over the next few months we were able to watch them come back to life and see what we did/did not like. I must have walked our neighborhood twenty times trying to get an idea of what I wanted for our yard- I wasn’t very good at this vision-development stuff. Fortunately I had a very experienced landscape contractor…he just didn’t like to express his thoughts unless you asked him specific questions.
- Ground cover. We decided to go with a 50/50 split between rock cover and grass, figuring that we’d increase rock coverage as we got older when grass mowing would get harder. The fescue grass keeps some of its green color throughout the winter. We’ve since learned that 1.) it’s hard for the grass to grow thick on steep slopes and 2.) front yard drainage requires well-placed rocks to avoid losing them during heavy rains.
- Front Yard Plants, which get full sunlight. We started with miniature rose bushes, Blue Pacific juniper ground cover, and lavender planted among the steep rock bed in the front. Then we learned the hard way that deer love those rose plants, the Schip Laurels in the side yard and our Red Bud tree leaves. We found an effective anti-deer spray that actually smelled OK, so the miniature rose plants survived and thrived this Spring. Deer don’t care for the smell of lavender, and they haven’t bothered our back yard Moon plants with which we’ve been experimenting.
- I am fascinated with Rocket Barberry plants which tend to come in Tennessee Orange around here. Don’t have any in the yard yet as I haven’t found a good source for them (Update: planted my first Barberry this last week of August, more to follow).
- I also want to learn more about the pollination process so we can make sure to complement those natural efforts. So far the lavender and Moon plants are fitting right in with Crepe Myrtle trees in attracting bees and butterflies.
- The golf course slopes down sharply into our small backyard. After our first year here we put a small rock barrier between the golf course and the backyard. This area doesn’t get much sunlight, and we’re experimenting with lavender, Moon plants, and various mint plants, with limited successfully thus far. Turns out some deer have acquired a taste for mint.
- Trees. Red Buds, Japanese Maples, Birch, Crepe Myrtles, Blue Star Juniper, Oakland Holly, and some Arbor Vita. So far most require no maintenance except for the Crepe Myrtles which we cut way back around February-March. One of our Blue Star Junipers was getting attacked by spider mites this Spring, so we’re fighting that (I had never heard of “miticides” before). And we just put up a mini-barrier of four Arbor Vita trees which, in ten years, will give us protection from stray golf shots. Until then, we’ll just hope the golf balls don’t damage the house.
- We have empty lots (full of trees) on both sides of the house. For now they make good dumping grounds for leaves and branches. I need to start a mulch pit with all this natural content….
- So we’re constantly learning and enjoying the process, keeping in mind that while our landscape knowledge increases, our maintenance capabilities are diminishing. This Spring we’re trying our hand at growing small tomatoes and kale on the open deck, knowing that they’ll require extra protection from rabbits and deer. For us, fences are not an option. Not yet.
There are plenty of master gardeners in the area and unlimited landscape resources online. We also get to observe the excellent handiwork of local residents who’ve been here for 10-20 years- no shortage of opportunities to learn.
Most evenings from April – October we get to enjoy the natural sounds of birds, the sights of deer and other wildlife from our deck, along with the unnatural sounds of golf balls landing close by. Looking forward to learning a whole bunch more about this stuff over these next 20 years. Glad to learn from your experiences.
