Gardenworks Senior Friendly Landscape Designs

Creating Landscapes for Seniors

Gardenworks created an award-winning landscape project that our specialists designed and installed with a senior in mind. Our client in Healdsburg wanted the property around the home to be lower maintenance but also wanted the new design to have a water-conserving irrigation system.

What our design team did to incorporate the “senior friendly” theme is chronicled in photos on our website’s Before & After portfolio page but we want to also provide our customers with some further details about how we create senior-friendly gardens and landscapes.

Even the most hardy among us might rather expend energy in other hobbies besides “yard duty,” especially during retirement, and we’d be happy to discuss these ideas and features with you, so you can have a landscape design you’ll love that also leaves you plenty of time for other projects.

This particular garden incorporates our client’s enjoyment of planting annual flowers and vegetables yet allows plenty of  time for exercise classes, family, and other activities around the community.  Travel is another activity the client enjoys so we added a “smart” weather-based irrigation controller to save additional water beyond the efficient irrigation system we installed. We also chose plants for the garden with their mature size in mind to lower the cost and effort in managing the garden. The Gardenworks team and our client both wanted a low impact garden, which we have been organically managing since the project’s completion.

Healdsburg Home

We designed, built, and/or installed the following new landscape features for this Healdsburg home to make it easier to move about, come and go, and generally enjoy different areas of the landscape:

•    Built a concrete ramp to the front door from the driveway that is obscured from view at the sidewalk
•    Created a Decomposed Granite ramped path from the side yard to a backyard covered patio to eliminate extra steps
•    Added a tall water feature for easier cleaning and filling with a switch within easy reach
•    Installed security and pathway lighting on a photocell and timer
•    Installed a weather-based irrigation controller that adjusts water zone run times daily, including a rain sensor to shut down the system during wet periods
•    Built raised planters and vegetable boxes for easier access on the automated irrigation system
•    Built several patios to stroll to and sit comfortably at
•    Added a hand rail next to wide garden steps
•    Installed plants for their mature size to minimize pruning and “over-care”
•    Planted small stature trees to prevent sidewalk “lifting” from roots
•    Created small areas for annual flowers to make planting easier

We also worked closely with the homeowner on the design, gathering input on plant selection and we asked for help with selection of annuals and vegetables. This is a mutually beneficial aspect of how we work with our clients, as this interaction is an opportunity for retired persons with extra time to be engaged with the steps in creating their landscape project from start to finish. We had regular meetings with the homeowner during and after construction and this participation became something both Gardenworks team members and the homeowner looked forward to throughout the project.

Our creative ideas for senior friendly landscape designs don’t end with the details we describe here. Some other potential landscape features we’d suggest for these types of projects also include:

1.    Installing motion sensor lights outside the front and back doors and along driveways and pathways.
2.    Adding a small table or shelf decorated with easy maintenance flowering plants outside the entrance that can double as a place to hold packages while unlocking the door.
3.    Installing remote control door locks
4.    Taking advantage of Gardenworks’ Landscape Management team. Our landscape maintenance services can be geared to any homeowner’s needs and budgets.

These details are just some of the ideas we can create for the property around your home, so give us a call to discuss your landscape thoughts and needs.