A New Beginning – and different ways to think about gardening!
It takes great courage and imagination to choose a completely new lifestyle for yourself, and our luxury retirement villages are the perfect place to make a change.
Sometimes adjusting to a new lifestyle can feel quite emotionally daunting, and if you’ve enjoyed a garden previously, you might be wondering how you’ll cope without one.
An Allotment:
When you stay with us at our luxury retirement villages, why not sign up for a local allotment? The advantages are brilliant. You’ll be able to get that wonderful feeling from growing and nurturing plants and being outside in the fresh air and sunshine, on a scale you can choose and manage.
- A half plot – or share a plot with a friend. You’ll be able to share the work, your ideas, skills and resources, and when one of you is away, the other can keep it ticking over.
- Community plots – many sites offer these, where you can just have a raised bed for yourself, on a plot with like-minded people. It’s amazing how much you can grow in a small place and you will enjoy meeting others on the same plot, swapping ideas, seeds, and probably sharing a pot of tea!
- Allotment Committees love people like you! It may be that you can offer them a bit of much-needed help from time to time, that amazing gift of time which enables them to run annual events like plant sales, annual shows etc. It’s really good fun helping out, from making tea and sandwiches, sowing seeds, arranging the displays, to baking cakes and so on. There are so many jobs to do if you like helping out. And as a volunteer, you can choose what and when you can offer, making the best of your particular skills and preferences.
House plants:
You can bring your garden indoors! While you stay with us as part of our senior living communities why not make your room feel more like home with some fresh house plants. They require just a little bit of maintenance, and that splash of green is so uplifting and worthwhile! Here are some ideas: –
- Spider plants – easy and graceful.
- Mint – lush and fragrant and you can enjoy a glass of fresh mint tea!
- Aloe Vera – dramatic and easy, enjoying light and a little water.
- Succulents – love a nice warm sunny spot. They need very little water, and just a shallow container for three or four plants. The variety available is amazing, and your collection will surely grow.
- Seasonal displays – you can change with the seasons in your apartment and grow beautiful spring bulbs, little potted roses, geraniums, so many plants are readily available that are happy to grow indoors. Think of that joyful splash of colour, the wonderful scents from things growing, and the pleasure in looking after them. No heavy tools needed, just some sharp fine snips, a long spouted light little watering can, and take your pick!
- Flower arrangements – such a lovely way of introducing growing beauty and colour inside, and if you do it regularly you’ll enjoy a selection of different shaped vases and containers. Your tools will tidy away in a drawer, and you can do it when you feel like it. Bad weather no problem!
So, let’s get growing!
Author – Maggie Wilkinson
