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I'm the opposite. I can function in the garden when it's about 55 degrees with a jacket on, but above 80 degrees or so I start to melt even with short sleeves.
Same here. I'm in shape but my health deteriorates when its above 80° especially when its humid. I don't do well and gardening is not enjoyable. 55-75 is my ideal gardening temps
I’m in FL and garden year round. Heat is serious in the summer so I’m out early or late and never at midday. There is nothing better than rinsing off in the outside shower and going in the pool to lower my core temp in the summer after working in the yard/garden. With nematodes in the soils, I use pots for herbs, tomatoes and peppers. Okra, sweet potatoes and Seminole pumpkin work well in the ground.
Our Meyer lemon has so many blossoms right now, it’s a constant perfume in the pool area right now and is lovely to smell. This will be the second season for our mango tree and I’m expecting more fruit this year. It’s a dwarf, which doesn’t mean a lot in FL, but I will keep it pruned to 12 feet so we can manage it. We are using a ladder to pollinate our vanilla orchids, but I’ve planted two more vines and am training one down on a tree and another on a trellis in a pot. Using a ladder will not be a smart option as we age.
What makes me feel my age most is pulling weeds and invasives. We combined an empty lot next door with our property and had it cleared of invasive Brazilian pepper, which was great as they were munched into the soil. Unfortunately what I didn’t know was that the bare ground areas left behind were perfect for invasive grasses to take hold, plus a few of the Brazilian pepper send up growth and need to be taken out. It’s constant, but it looks like we are gaining on them finally.
I find it hard to stop once I start weeding, but my body is letting me know to stop early. This is strange, but what I’ve found is that my nose starts running when I’m close to overdoing. That’s when I stop now.
I find it hard to stop once I start weeding, but my body is letting me know to stop early. This is strange, but what I’ve found is that my nose starts running when I’m close to overdoing. That’s when I stop now.
Ditto! I walk outside to get the mail and 4 hrs later, I bring the mail in. After I have moaned and groaned and wrenched myself up from the squatted position I'd been in for the majority of the time.
My nose starts running 10 minutes after being out there (and I never had allergies before that I'm aware of) so I head out with a pocket full of tissues.
If I go out intentionally to pull weeds... I usually have a large piece of cardboard to sit on and knee pads. I sit down on the cardboard if I'm going to be working a particular area for a while. Dragging one of those raised kneeling/sitting thingies around with me is too cumbersome. I have to shift around too much (for my back and hips) to utilize one of those.
I’m struggling to adapt, for sure. I have 2 knee replacements, so I can’t kneel. I also fear that if I get down on the ground I won’t be able to get up. So, I’m reduced to bending over, and I only have a few bends in me at a time. So, I pace myself.
Fortunately, DH is still good at doing the grunt work, like kneeling to pull weeds, out to dig through tough roots. He has built me a nice large, deep window box, where I will put a few herbs and vegetables this year, at waist level. I’m also planning more planters and less inground plants this year...not only for ease of tending, but also to control the soil nutrients.
We also do not have any qualms about using weed killers, early and often. They are very safe, if used according to instructions.
I’m always on the hunt for tools to help work smarter, not harder. My latest find is a Root Slayer, and I highly recommend it. It’s basically a trowel with a long handle and serrated edges. https://www.gardeners.com/buy/root-s...s/8597385.html
I’m struggling to adapt, for sure. I have 2 knee replacements, so I can’t kneel. I also fear that if I get down on the ground I won’t be able to get up. So, I’m reduced to bending over, and I only have a few bends in me at a time. So, I pace myself.
Fortunately, DH is still good at doing the grunt work, like kneeling to pull weeds, out to dig through tough roots. He has built me a nice large, deep window box, where I will put a few herbs and vegetables this year, at waist level. I’m also planning more planters and less inground plants this year...not only for ease of tending, but also to control the soil nutrients.
We also do not have any qualms about using weed killers, early and often. They are very safe, if used according to instructions.
I’m always on the hunt for tools to help work smarter, not harder. My latest find is a Root Slayer, and I highly recommend it. It’s basically a trowel with a long handle and serrated edges. https://www.gardeners.com/buy/root-s...s/8597385.html
Cool trowel. You should look into getting a stand up weed puller. I heard its great. I got one as a Christmas gift so I'll see how it is come spring
At 72 my strategy, here in the high desert, is to let things go natural outside the courtyards with yucca, sage, four-wing saltbush, and chamisa. Inside the courtyards I do container gardening, mostly to keep the rabbits at bay (or slow them down) and hire specialists for the big jobs. I still manage most of what I need to do in the garden but I'd rather have someone else to blame when it goes wrong. Rabbits don't bother the big established trees and shrubs. I will admit that crawling on my hands and knees to clean out the goldfish pond filter and pump is getting old.
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