“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘let’s party!” Robin Williams. “In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” Mark Twain. “Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day.” Wilton E. Hall. “Despite the forecast, live like it’s spring.” Lilly Pulitzer. “The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.” Gertrude S. Wister. “The beautiful spring came; and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.” Harriet Ann Jacobs. “You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.” Walter C. Hagen.

There comes a time in every senior gardener’s life when climbing the stairs to the second floor becomes a chore. At the same time, your favorite activity, gardening, is becoming more tiring. Family and friends may be urging you to downsize, but the thought of not gardening at all isn’t an option. You want to keep that green thumb green. You just don’t want to put forth as much of your waning energy doing it. And then there’s the matter of your aching back and creaking knees when you make the hike up that flight of stairs to retire for the night. You are faced with a major adaptive gardening decision: downsize, rightsize, or stay put.

You’re making an important decision about the next stage of your life when there are several choices available, and you need to know the pros and cons of each. Downsizing is the traditional term for moving to a smaller living space. However, downsizing isn’t so all-inclusive today, especially with apartments and townhouses.

Apartments are the most restrictive for the gardener. However, gardeners are resourceful people and have found ways to garden in the small space apartments provide. The most obvious gardening for apartment residents is indoor gardening – houseplants, including a favorite: Tillandsia. Some residents grow containerized plants on their balconies.

Remember a few years ago when some houseplants were in short supply at garden centers? That was due to an influx of young professionals to empty office buildings that were repurposed into luxury apartments and warehouses converted into lofts. These “plant parents” stocked up on houseplants to bring the outdoors indoors. And, they even hired people to come in and tend their plants when they were away on business.

If you don’t like heights, a townhouse may be a better choice. Townhouses may be one or two stories, maybe rentals, condominiums, or fee simple. Rentals are the most carefree. The landlord is responsible for maintaining both the inside and outside. Condo townhouse owners own the inside of their units and are responsible for the inside maintenance. The condo or homeowners’ association (HMO) owns the exterior of the building and the grounds. They make the rules on landscaping or gardens. Most townhouses have a deck or patio on which you can grow containerized plants. Fee simple means you own your townhouse and any outside area and are responsible for the maintenance, just as you would be with a single-family house. That includes the landscaping and any gardens.

Rightsizing is really a more appropriate term than downsizing. An apartment or townhouse may be rightsizing for you. However, defining it here as moving to a smaller house and lot. A rightsized house doesn’t even have to be smaller, but it should be on one floor.

The biggest difference was the size of the yard. Instead of having to ride around on a lawn mower for an hour and a half every weekend, you could mow with a walk-behind mower in 20 minutes. As a woody plant person, the landscape is mostly trees and shrubs that are now mature enough that they need very little maintenance. Some of the shrubs do have to be pruned when the new growth is finished. As a senior gardener who embraces imperfection, let the hill in the back go natural. And, call an arborist when you need tree work. It’s too dangerous otherwise.

As the aging-in-place movement gains traction, more and more senior gardeners are choosing that option. This has spawned the term “downsizing-in-place.” Aging-in-place is a movement that helps seniors remain in the home in which they raised their families. The home they love. Contractors are training to remodel homes to meet seniors’ changing needs. Home healthcare organizations are available to provide services to seniors who want to stay put. A first-floor bedroom and bathroom are probably the most important to successful aging-in-place. Other modifications may have to be made to your house to adapt your ability to function alone or with minimal help.

Downsizing-in-place works best if your landscape is mature, which it’ll be if you’ve been in your house for decades. Most mature landscapes require less maintenance. Ongoing maintenance includes lawn mowing. A riding lawnmower makes this task easy, or you can hire one of the many mowing services in every neighborhood. This article will be continued next week.

This fact sheet is provided as an educational service of the National Garden Bureau and Duane Pancoast (www.ngb.org/adaptive-gardening-rightsizing).

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2. “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.” Psalm 119:1. “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 5:32. “If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23.