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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Original poster

Do you think gardening becomes more appealing as we age?

36 replies

ohfook · 09/03/2022 11:32

Just musing really. For the past couple years I've really enjoyed just pottering in the garden. I'm still a novice and don't really know what I'm doing but I understand what people mean when they say it's good for the soul. For me a perfect afternoon is one where the dc are out playing in the garden and I'm faffing on putting stuff in plant pots.

But right through my twenties I rented a tiny home with a huge garden and I absolutely hated it. I saw it as such a massive chore with no real pay off. I very rarely spent time in it and the only time I did any gardening really was when the front got so bad I was forced to weed out if sheer shame. Looking back now and that garden was wonderful (nicer than the one we have now) and I could kick myself at the time I spent whinging when I could've been enjoying it.

Anecdotally amongst my friends none of us were interested in gardens in our twenties and early thirties but as we're crossing into our forties more and more are seeing the light. I was just wondering really if this was anybody else's experience and what you think it is.

OP posts:
FindingMeno · 09/03/2022 11:36

I do, and I'm rather glad for a hobby that will keep me fed and fit as I get older!

Thoosa · 09/03/2022 11:38

IME, it either kicks in when you get your own garden, or it doesn’t kick in, but maybe I know a lot of green fingered types.

GodspeedJune · 09/03/2022 11:41

I remember growing plants with my cousins in my teens, and enjoyed gardening in my twenties too. Now early thirties and most of my friends enjoy it too and have for a few years. I think the movement of getting back to nature, and plants being almost a fashionable thing now, has helped people get interested younger.

QuietKingdom · 09/03/2022 14:31

Not necessarily I've absolutely loved gardening since I was a child and my children also do now. I'm in my 40's and still renting so still don't have my own garden, but I have plenty of plants and an allotment.

SquishySquirmy · 09/03/2022 14:43

I think it depends on time commitments and your pace of life (which we can't always choose).
I'm mid thirties, love gardening, and have loved it for a while but I don't get as much time as I would like to potter! However I find that now dc are out of the toddler years, and are old enough to amuse themselves nearby (or even help!) while I garden it is getting easier. When they were younger it was impossible to spend more than 5 mins at a time on any task in the garden. (The idea of gardening with toddlers is lovely, the reality is far from relaxing).
So at least now I can spend a bit of time in the garden on weekends.
But when I was in my twenties, between full time work, children and other commitments I just didn't have enough time to enjoy gardening properly... the important jobs got done, but its not nearly as enjoyable when you feel rushed.

I've always thought that was why so many people get into gardening at retirement age! No full time job, more time to garden at a pleasant pace.

simbobs · 09/03/2022 14:46

No, but I would love someone to do it for me.

Erinyes · 09/03/2022 14:48

Nope. I'm 49 and still regard it as outdoor housework. I love being outdoors, but I've no urge to weed etc. I just have fruit trees and meadow which I mow a couple of times a year.

nannybeach · 23/05/2022 07:12

As a child, I was given areas in my late parentsl arge rural garden to weed I absolutely hated it. We had chicken, fruit, which I was happy to feed/pick. Had a couple of years living in London flats (which incidentally I also hated, the noise,crime,rats!) Bought our own place, just a caravan, got bitten by the bug. gradually bought places with bigger and bigger gardens.My lae Father said to me I had no hobbies (because if they werent HIS hobbies, they didnt count) and told me gardening was work. My oldest DD 51, is now getting into gardening. Yougest a rambling victorian house, paved courtyard, she hates gardening.

EspeciallyDistracted · 23/05/2022 07:19

No, amongst my friends (40s/50s) there is still a definite divide between those of us who have always done it and loved it and those who have it as low maintenance as possible and no real interest. I can't think of anyone I know who has suddenly taken an interest as they've got older.

Trethew · 23/05/2022 07:21

Yes. It’s the third stage of womanhood.

The first is horses, second is hormones, and third is horticulture.

anotherbrewplease · 23/05/2022 07:24

yep

Sunflowersinthewind · 23/05/2022 07:26

100%, I am very fast approaching 40 and gardening is now my favourite thing

iwanttobeasquare · 23/05/2022 07:38

45 here. Absolutely love it now after 20
years of total disinterest. For it's what comes after the big stuff like career travel and babies no longer quite so appealing.

WhyCantPeopleBeNice · 23/05/2022 07:39

I've loved gardening for a long time.
When my children were babies and I was a single mum (20s) id put them to bed at 7 and head straight to the garden from spring through to autumn. For me it was the only way to get 'out' the house, plus my house was horrible, but the garden could be made beautiful cheaply with some patience and seeds
Now I'm older I still have the bug, and more money to play with but less time, it brings about a different type of garden but still one o can escape into and forget the world for a while.
Now the kids are teenagers/young adults they spend most their time revising outside because it's such a nice space to be. I hope when they get their own homes they get the bug

Eve · 23/05/2022 07:42

Trethew · 23/05/2022 07:21

Yes. It’s the third stage of womanhood.

The first is horses, second is hormones, and third is horticulture.

Oh no - that’s me!! 😳

my friend has a theory that as kids grow up we need to nurture something so turn to plants.

MattoMatto · 23/05/2022 07:49

I’m another one who had no interest when I was younger and sadly abused a couple of lovely gardens I lived with. Inherited two gardens (one rented, one owned) that had been created by dedicated gardeners and were then unloved and overgrown under my ‘care’. Now, nothing is better than buying new plants and getting them home.

Petronus · 23/05/2022 08:08

I always liked it, but didn’t have time for it when dc were very young, I was too tired and could just about manage to keep indoors half decent. Now they are a bit older I have time to potter. I also think gardens (if you have one, which is a big caveat) are a bit of a leveller, my modest semi is never going to be a lovely period house or a cute cottage but the garden can be whatever I want it to be.

FatFilledTrottyPuss · 23/05/2022 08:15

God I hope so because my garden is a right overgrown scruffy mess. Although I’m 48 now and still not getting the hand of weeding so it’s not looking hopeful round here!

TheWayTheLightFalls · 23/05/2022 08:15

I think so. There’s something about having the patience to see things through the year, and the idea of planting and growth for me. Like a pp did, I have young kids but put them to bed to tend my fruit and veg garden. I want nothing more in life but to move to a Greek island and grow oranges.

whatisthisinhere · 23/05/2022 08:19

I remember having a mild interest as a child, because my parents were always gardening, my mother loved growing her own, and in later years had an allotment.
During my 20s,, I had no interest despite becoming a homeowner at 22. I only did enough to keep a neat garden, very little planting, and to keep the drive clear.
My interest grew with having children, so they had somewhere to play, and a little patch to grow stuff. I'm in my 50s now, and will find any excuse to do something, a space to add something new, and recently have taken to woodwork - mainly so I can make things for the garden

InMySpareTime · 23/05/2022 08:41

I think it's more about feeling settled. When you're younger, gardening is all about a quick visual reward. Planting annuals and catch crop veg. As you remain in the same place for a few years it's worth planting shrubs/perennials/fruit trees as you know you'll be there to see the benefit.
Then when you have a nice mature garden (and don't have DCs trashing it with footballs constantly) you can enjoy the peace of sitting out watching the plants you put in years ago and eating fruit from trees you planted.

StickyFingeredWeeNed · 23/05/2022 08:44

I used to loathe gardening so much I put my horses in the garden and let them cut the grass. 😳

squashyhat · 23/05/2022 08:54

Trethew · 23/05/2022 07:21

Yes. It’s the third stage of womanhood.

The first is horses, second is hormones, and third is horticulture.

With holidays liberally sprinkled throughout

Muezza · 23/05/2022 13:50

No interest as a child despite green fingered parents. A trip to the garden centre was the worst thing ever because it felt like my parents spent hours there!

Early 20s started getting interested in house plants. Garden centres become more appealing.

Early 30s and the interest now emcompasses outdoor plants, and moving into a house with a bigger garden has added fuel to the fire. Going into the garden to check on the plants is the first thing I do every morning 😂 the garden centre is my favourite shop.

DP hasnt developed the gardening bug despite being in his 40s. He likes admiring the garden but definately seems a bit bemused by the amount of time I spend covered in soil.

TheDuchessOfMN · 23/05/2022 13:56

Yes, definitely. I think my dad was very amused (and proud) of my sudden interest in gardening. I think I was about 30.

Prior to that, I would have struggled to ID anything that wasn’t a rose.