Retirement Garden – Tips to help create a gardening hobby or a creative retirement job

Special retirement garden information for -

In one month, on just the Google search engine alone -

• 59,469 people searched for information with the keyword - Flowers
• 11,67 more people searched for information with the keyword - Flower
• 4,928 people searched for information with the keyword - Gardening

Millions more searched for information using other flower, gardening and landscaping related keywords such as – container gardening, organic gardening, wedding flowers, spring flowers, types of flowers, (how about producing “How to” training videos and sell CD’s and DVD’s) – when it comes to flowers, gardening and landscaping – the possibilities are endless.

The retirement garden, is a wonderful retirement job opportunity – offering information you may already have through your job, hobby or by supplying flower, gardening and landscaping information you can easily research.

Here’s the winning combination - you + your expertise + your computer + the teaching/hosting site that helped me and thousands of nearly or already retired people build a creative retirement job.

Retirement Garden Features:

• Check out the new Types of Flowers page - popular flower types for weddings, gardens and - decoding flower language to send secret messages.

• Tips on planning and building a beautiful Butterfly Garden

Now, from the retirement garden, several articles that may provide some ideas for potential flower and gardening sites.

Barbara Ann Myrick, a Master Gardener in Smith County, Texas suggests ”That in this fast-paced world full of impatience, anxiety, stress, frustration and self-indulgence, where pills for nervous stress, depression and high blood pressure are common, we should start teaching our children the pleasures of gardening as soon as they can walk.
Maybe their lives will be less stressful.”

The same can be said for those of us at the other end of the age scale – it’s therapeutic to take a few minutes, go outside, work for a short time in your flower garden – you feel rejuvenated – it’s amazing how much better you feel.

Mz. Myrick adds - “Gardening is work, sore muscles, and even frustration, but its pleasures and benefits exceed those.
You learn patience by waiting for the results of your labor.
You overcome failure through knowledge and trial and error.
You relieve stress and depression by working and achieving a beautiful, restful haven that you, your family, friends, and the wildlife can enjoy.
Gardening can ease your pain, calm your spirit, and soothe your soul!”

Mother Nature is a great healer.

However, in the retirement years, we have to learn to take it easy – gardening can be hard work and that leads to sore muscles, so remember to take regular work breaks – keep all your garden equipment in a shed near your garden site – make sure your water supply is close at hand - use only light weight tools and to make your gardening assignment as easy as possible use a gardening wagon to carry your gardening stuff and have a padded bench to kneel on.

Retirement Garden News:

A national charity in the UK called – Thrive – that makes use of gardening to change the lives of disabled people, has issued a leaflet – Tips for Easier Gardening - some of their suggestions:

• Raise the soil level or use raised beds to improve access
• Use old carpet (face down) to create level routes across a vegetable garden.
• Avoid fast-growing plants which will require frequent pruning.
• Use ground cover plants to cut down on weeding.
• Remove or reduce areas of the garden which require frequent maintenance, such as lawns
• Use mulches of bark, plastic or gravel to help suppress weed growth and conserve moisture in the soil.
• Grow vegetables on a small scale for less effort – for example in containers.
• Replace hedges with fences for easier maintenance.
• Find the lightest tools with the widest handles as they are easiest to grip.
• Vary your gardening tasks to vary body movements.

Retirement Garden News:

Another study in the UK suggests that gardening not only improves the quality of life for people suffering from Alzheimer's but also helps alleviate the anxiety that comes with dementia – this is Britain's latest treatment for Alzheimer's patients: garden therapy.

There isn't abundant scientific evidence that gardening has a lasting effect, but some British health practitioners point to a wealth of anecdotal evidence showing that therapeutic gardens improve patients' moods and cut down on disruptive behavior. The trend is taking off in nursing homes and day centers.

Retirement Garden Tips:

To help gardeners work through a time management dilemma, Scott Meyer, Editor of Organic Gardening magazine gives the following time-saving tips.-

• Start with a plan: A well thought-out plan will save you time trying to decide where you want each plant to go during the few hours you have to work outdoors.

• Make quick beds: Create a new perennial garden simply by slicing under turf with a spade, flipping it upside down and then covering the area with 3 to 4 inches of wood chips.

• Cut weeds: When low-growing weeds like chickweed or henbit grow into a mat, don’t bother trying to get rid of them one at a time. Instead, use the shovel method to scrape away as many as possible at one time.

• Pile on mulch: Use a bow or flat-head rake to spread mulch efficiently. With the rake’s tined edge, you pull and spread the mulch, and with the flat side of the rake, you can even out the mulch on the bed.

• Water wisely: Soaker hoses save you the time of standing with a hose or refilling a watering can.

• Wind up hoses: Don’t waste time dragging and storing unwieldy hoses for neat, easy storage you can use either a stationary hose or a portable house reels to put away hoses faster.

• Build soil in place: No need to use wheelbarrows full of compost to build your garden, create compost right in the walkways.

• Wash the harvest: Collect your produce in an old laundry basket. The basket acts as a strainer, allowing you to quickly rinse dirt and debris from veggies and fruit.

• Keep your shoes on: Stash plastic grocery bags by the door to cover your muddy shoes in case you have to go inside before you are through gardening.

• Take baby steps: Every minute is valuable when you’re pressed for time. Take a few moments to work in the garden whenever you have them so chores don’t pile up for the weekend.

So, if you're passionate about gardening, flowers or landscaping – now’s the time to research all the possibilities available to you via your own retirement garden on the web – it's easier than you think - here’s one retiree who grabbed the gold ring -

From the retirement garden back to the home page