Spring Gardening Tips for Seniors and Their Caregivers

If you're looking for a fun activity that will get your loved one up and moving throughout the warm weather months, gardening might be a great idea. It's a fun, rewarding pastime that can be made easier for seniors who have trouble getting around. Your relatives will love the look that a few flowers, will lend to their property, and you can help them choose varieties that will bloom all season long. Here are five tips to help you get started.

1. Start out with an herb container garden in the kitchen. When placed on an easily accessible windowsill, these little plants will flourish the more you pinch and pick them. Try using herbs that you or your loved one often use in cooking, like basil, parsley, chives and rosemary.

2. Instead of annual flowers, you might want to choose perennials. This will ensure that you won't have to plant entirely new plants every year. Instead, you and your loved one will only have to do a bit of maintenance to keep the blooms healthy and beautiful.

3. Mulch around the plants. If you take the time to mulch around your loved one's plants, you'll be saving him or her a lot of effort that would otherwise go into weeding. Mulch can not only prevent weeds from growing, but it can make plants go for longer periods of time without watering and keep the soil in good condition.

4. Plant vertically whenever possible. If you use an arbor or a trellis, your loved ones won't have to bend over or stoop in order to reach the plants for watering, weeding or pruning.

5. Purchase the right gardening tools. There are many tools that are designed to make gardening easier for seniors. This includes those with long handles, oversized grips and improved leverage. A lightweight watering can is also a good idea, as well as a hose that's located close to the garden.  A comfortable stool or chair can be very useful
For some seniors, a full garden is simply not an option.  For these folks, consider potted flowers or vegetables.  Or try window boxes that can hold different plantings depending on the season.

A few additional considerations for early spring in Connecticut:

In April be sure and leave coverage until the ground thaws.  Be careful to NOT remove winter mulch, leaves etc. too soon or the plants will heave with the frost/defrost process.  Pansies are great this time of year, and should last until late June.  They are very hardy and frost tolerant.

Early spring is also a good time to divide perennials, weed, feed and mulch. If you still have energy and/ or time, then cut a good edge around beds.

If trees and bushes have not started to leaf out they can be pruned.  But do NO pruning once the leaves are out.  This includes roses.

Do not even THINK of cutting what looks like dead flowers and leaves on hydrangea.  Just let them leaf out and trim later.

The hard preparation work is in the spring.  But a good foundation of well turned soil, weed and feed, and mulch will insure beautiful blooms in summer!!

Special thanks to our contributors: Fellow gardeners Pat Duclos Miller and Margaret Ambrose, as well as gardening expert client Mary Hedges. ■