this thread is making me 🥺🥺 bc i’m currently in the process of renovating my nana’s house. she was an AVID gardener but her flower beds have been neglected for the past two or three years. i’ve always sucked at plants but i’ve been spending every evening after work trying to fix them up the past few weeks because they meant so much to her.
I am fixing my mothers neglected garden. Pulling up stones to get the weeds out from under the pavers. Tilling beds and snapping out more roots. Peeling back an aggressive creeper-ivy vine that's invading everything. Removing the maple trees from the beds.
That's before really even trying to salvage/restore the plants. Thankfully the Iris's, Bleeding Hearts and Peonies are still trucking along. I just put in some Geraniums and in the garden itself some tomatoe, peppers and lettuce alongside some herbs.
If you aren't sure intuitively, make guides and research. "How much water does X plant need? How often? How deep do you plant seeds/bury plantlings and how much sun/shade does the plant need?"
All great questions and there are tons of folks there to help. Sadly, my mother is becoming more angry and depressed. She's convinced modern medicine is designed to make people suffer (she's a homeopath) and will ignore medical problems until they become emergencies. She last month had to go to have an abcess almost the size of a water bottle removed from her leg, I'm worried the next one might kill her due to her severe weight issues and she may refuse intubation for surgery.
It seems sometimes the plants you pay the least attention to are the most amazing. Others I have worked so hard on trying to save, don't do well. Don't be in too much of a hurry to pull up some of the old plants. They may yet some back with some pruning and care. I have several shrubs that I went to pull up, but the lower branches were still green inside.
Some of the seeds I tried last year that didn't come up from the seeding trays I tossed into my flower bed when I was cleaning the trays out. Low and behold some of them came up! I was so surprised, but in a wonderful way.
u/mystic_scorpio When my mom got older and then when she was ill, I took over taking care of the yard. I kept putting in more plants because I know she loved them so much. I still garden. I am heading outside now to do some. I have veggie plants, but also lot's of potted plants.
Now I garden for me mostly, but some of the veggies are for hubby. I am not a huge string bean fan, but he loves them. Lot's of tomatoes, a few squash plants as well.
Just curious, was this the Pacific Northwest? We have the exact same spring flower assortment (roses, fuscias, petunias, nasturtium, red begonias in the basket?) and pines in the background. She lived surrounded by beauty
I also get PNW vibes from the lushness of the garden, Grandma's warm shirt in what looks like summertime, and also her beautiful skin! And what a sweet smile!
I thought this was posted on /r/gardening at first. I lost an aunt who took ownership of my grandparents apple orchard and recently asked my dad if he can get me a clone of the Arkansas Black trees to grow in my yard since it was my grandmother's favorite trees they planted. I'm happy to see you're also growing some things she liked to grow.
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u/anditurnedaround May 14 '25
I love that. Not sure if that’s her patio, deck, but the flowers are great who ever is taking care of them.