How can a disabled non-gardener keep a large garden looking ok?

[Roseshavethorns]

I'm hoping for some advice.
DH died very suddenly in January (he was only in his fifties). He enjoyed gardening and we have an extremely large garden. I, on the other hand, don't enjoy gardening and am disabled so very limited in what I can do.
The majority of the garden is grass and I am buying a light mower so I can hopefully keep it tidy. The borders have established flowers and I am hoping that I can basically leave them alone and they will be ok. Is this realistic?
We have some trees and bushes but hopefully they won't need anything.
There are a couple of fairly large veg plots that are covered in nettles that I have no clue what to do with. My idea was to pull as many weeds as I can and order some wild flower seed and seed balls, just throw it down and forget it. Will this work?
I can't afford a gardener.
Any advice for keeping it looking ok for the next year or so with the least effort would be very welcome.

I think the only main two options are to either simplify what maintenance is required or get other people in to do/share the work. Might there be any local retired people in good health who enjoy gardening - and who might be willing to do some maintenance in exchange for e.g. having their own corner for some fruit trees, growing some veg or similar?

This is probably mad, but I'm also thinking about trainee hairdresser colleges that offer very cheap hairdos in exchange for a novice being able to practise and gain experience... I wonder if there are any local would-be gardeners who might want to hone their skills, maybe learn their craft and safely experiment with ideas in the knowledge that nobody will be angry if things don't work or aren't left looking picture-perfect at all times?!

I'm sorry for your loss
Do you know anyone who would want to grow veg in your veg plots? Like an allotment but in your garden. Maybe you could share the produce and then they also do some weeding in exchange for using your beds? Or contact your local allotments and ask if anyone there might want another bed? You may not want randoms in your garden though.

Just throwing in flower seeds might look ok this year, but you might find they spread and could be everywhere by next summer- including through the grass! I had a poppy self seed last year, it was very pretty but I left the seed pods on the plants. I now have SO plants coming up, even several meters away from the plant! Laying bark in the borders will help with weed supression.

Do you work/have a hobby? Could you exchange something else for regular weeding? Cooking? Baking?

Could you return the veg beds to grass?

Sorry for your loss, OP.

Returning the beds to grass is a good idea.

But realistically, no. Keeping a large garden not wild takes hours and hours of work. Maybe once time has passed, you might want to think about down-sizing?

Any chance you could sell the garden to a developer?!

Unfortunately I live in a tiny village so most people have their own gardens but thanks for the suggestion.
I never thought about returning the plots to grass. The problem would be trying to keep it tidy as there are wooden edges so I couldn't mow it. Can you think of an alternative (I really know nothing)?
I am going to try and sell next year so I really only want to keep it tidy until then.

You could advertise your veg plots as allotments, if you don't mind people coming into your garden. My friend is desperate for an allotment but there's a waiting list where she lives so she'd snap one up in someone's garden.
It really depends on what plants you already have established in your garden as to whether they will need much work. Maybe your prospective allotment holders would work on your borders in lieu of rent.

Edit- sorry, just seen your update about living in a village.

Get a robot mower, then you don’t need to do it yourself.

I think I would simply cover the veg beds to prevent weeds and leave them alone. You can use cardboard and cover with mulch. I would generally cover beds heavily with mulch to reduce weeding.
You can also consider a robot lawnmower.

Seconding the robot mower, but I think you may have to find some money each month to get a few hours help, especially if you want to sell next year. An unkempt garden is a big turn-off.

Can you contact any local charities that might have some volunteers who could help?

This is a good idea.

Any local teenagers doing DofE who need volunteer role?

Do you have friends you could rope in for a couple of sessions? If you do, I'd get them in now to cover the veg patches over with cardboard and plastic to supress the weeds, to pull any weeds in the flower beds before they've had too long to get going.

Mowing - is this something you can do yourself if you're disabled or not? I find the temptation is always to leave mowing for ages but it's a lot easier when the grass isn't long. The same applies to weeding really. You might be able to buy a battery powered electric mower that makes life easier if your husband used a heavy petrol one. I know I couldn't even start the petrol one that my parents had when I was a child.

Then get someone in for a few hours this autumn, if you possibly can, to prune the bushes.

And then a second "friends please help me" spruce up before you put the house on the market next sitting.

If you live in a village, perhaps track down the local beekeepers and offer the site for hives in exchange for keeping the area strimmed/mown. People are putting hives out now (I literally saw someone setting up this afternoon).

Also a village will probably have a FB page. Offer your veg plots on there, there might well be someone with more vegetable seedlings than they know what to do with or who wants space for squashes or pumpkins.

Good luck - large gardens are a complete time sink.

Shrubs and trees should be fine. Unfortunately your flower borders are unlikely to be OK without a bit of weeding. Either regular little and often weeding, or a big weeding session then mulch it with something bought in - with luck this will keep the weeds down and look good. If you cover the veg beds do you have a gardening friend who can come and help you with the flower beds?

A lot of teenagers are desperate for work or even for volunteering work across a lot of the country.

Minimum wage is only £8 per hour for a 16-18 year old if you could afford that. If not, see if you could find a young person who would volunteer in exchange for a reference/experience on their CV.

Honestly there might be gardeners who would welcome helping you. I find other people’s garden less stressful than my own ! I wouldn’t bother with wildflower seed packets. Nettles are actually very beneficial to wildlife. Just as long as you can find someone to help you mow regularly, and plan to have your trees/hedges done annually if possible, that’ll do.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Having read your update, if you are planning to sell, I'd try keeping it neat until then.
As others said, cover the veg beds, don't plant wildflowers, maybe bark to cover the shrub beds to supress weeds. Lidl or aldi have bags of bark at the moment.

Unless you'd use a robot mower at your next house, I wouldn't spent the money on that. If you can mow yourself, great, if not, use the money for someone to do it. Local teens might do it cheap.

Get someone to tidy before you sell.

Is there a churchyard maintained by volunteers that may be be able to help temporarily?
When I was little my mum adopted our elderly neighbour's garden. We lived in a village but only had a small strip and courtyard garden, so with the additional garden she grew more veg.

I would do this. Put down a membrane, even black bin bags will do, and lay bark chippings on top of the veg beds. Let them sleep. Don't get a robot mower. Expensive and don't do the job. Mulch with bark chippings (or even grass trimmings) the flower beds. Try to just keep on top of it this growing year until you can sell

My sister and her DH hate gardening but have quite a large garden. The man who lives in a flat nearby comes and looks after the garden. He grows fruit and veg. He gives my sister runner beans, peas and salad leaves, rhubarb, tomatoes and strawberries. He grows other things too but she doesn't like those.

So sorry for your loss.

If you have lots of grass I think a robot mower is the best way to save time and energy and keep the garden smart. It made a huge difference to us when we got one and they're much cheaper than they used to be. Mowing is really hard work if you're disabled whereas robot mowers you just leave to get on with it!

Agree about covering and mulching the veg beds. The flower beds will be ok until just before you put the house up for sale, then ask your friends to help with one day of weeding and planting some bright annuals

You’d need a team, they only have to volunteer for one hour a week

Robot mowers do do the job. Especially on an already established lawn.

And plastic bags under a mulch will degrade and break up and cause the new owners a nightmare picking out thousands of pieces of plastic for years to come.