How to rejuvenate a small garden that’s easy care

[mich1972]

Good morning Workshop Community Friends !! I hope you are all well and happy 😃 

My Mother-in-law’s back pain has pretty much stopped her from doing a lot of things in her home unit Garden. She can only potter around and do bits and pieces. I wanted to help her out and make it easier for her to enjoy and keep Mary interested and active in her Garden at her own pace. 
Unfortunately her back pain causes her depression and anxiety and every time she looks out of her kitchen window at this poor lifeless garden, she gets deflated and uninterested in her little garden. 

So I put my foot down and decided to change this and make it more easy for a person with back pain. I got my young bloke to take her out for lunch yesterday and I went in and got to work. We wanted to surprise her and encourage her not to give up on her little garden outside her kitchen window. 

This is the before photo. 
Mary loves Succulents as she finds them easier to look after as she’s not a confident gardener and that’s perfectly fine. She can’t dig or anything to strenuous and only likes Container growing plants. 
So I have taken in what she is comfortable with and got to work. 

 

I kept these two Buddleias as they are beautiful flowers and Pollinator attractors. They are fodder for the foraging Bees and Beneficial Insects and the butterflies love them !!! 
The sand was nutrient and water poor and they were suffering so I added a good thick layer of Triple C Mulch which helps retain moisture but also breaks down into a nourishing feeding Compost , I then gave them a good drenching of Charlie Carp liquid fertiliser , they will recover soon. 

Next I added a very heavy layer of Baileys Garden Mulch. On the Raised Garden Bed and also as a pathway around the bed. I wanted Mary to have full access right around the bed when she’s out there. I did not want to put down pebbles or stones as a pathway as I was worried she may slip on them.  

 

I bought all the soils, mulch, pots, plants, fertiliser, ornaments  from Bunnings. And I added some of my own pots and cuttings as well. I wanted to keep it all Terracotta as they are in my opinion the best planters for Succulents. I planted up and did it all at home. Then I packed my car up and took them over, it was easier this way. 

I chose a variety of different coloured foliage and textures and succulents that have beautiful flowers.

After returning from a lunch date with her Grandson, Mary was overwhelmed to find her Kitchen Window Garden transformed into something wonderful. She was so happy and feels more confident to look after and care for this Container Garden, she said she will be able to move them around and take her own little cuttings, things she can potter around at her own leisure and safely. This will keep her interested and more proactive to be outside, instead of feeling stuck in the house unable to do anything in her little garden.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KatieC]

Hi @mich1972,

You have chosen such a beautiful array of succulents that have really brought joy and playfulness to your mother-in-law's raised container garden. You have done a very clever approach to make all pots easily accessible.  I am sure your mother is over the moon and enjoyed her full day of delights. Would you say that most if not all succulents you selected require little maintenance to keep them healthy?

Katie

[mich1972]

Hi @KatieC 

I would say pretty much all succulents are tough and tolerant to dry conditions. Still need to be watered but not as often. They certainly don’t like being overwatered, this is why I chose terracotta pots, being porous, they can dry out quicker if too much water. 
Also with succulents they can grow in the heat or in partial shade. So the M-I-L can move some of these pots around to make her happy 😃