mothers-in-law

ok need help and advice to revamp her garden

mother in law is not well after lots of illnesses and tests the progno is NOT good

she has Pityriasis Rubra Pilarous a rare skin disorder which basically looks like she is sunburnt with blisters and she loses/ sheds her hair, skin and nails, she also has raynaurds, and lupus has also just been diagnoised, if this isnt bad enough she also is BI polar.
Next birthday she will be 59 and from here on in she is wheelchair bound, she lives on her own and she has a very basic living Just benifits, we are in the process of changing all her house and pathways for the wheelchair access, and this is where i need your advice and help
her garden is just lawn ( sodden in wet as the lawn is 3 inch soil ontop of Clay ! and old tired shrubs, mam says that she wishes that it had been kept up over the years as now it looks dreadful,

so first issue is plants that are there are either woody, old and hacked at or out of control ! so i am thinking trying to replace.

second issue is wheelchair is not going over soggy lawn ! so will have to have concret or slabs but as front garden is so narrow i am thinking no path for her in this area so most be vibrant in colours with scents closer to the door and window

she likes seasonal flowers and bulbs so that i can think i can manage in raised boarders or boxes

Front garden is really small maybe 16' X 9' with some tree stumps here and there and a few bulbs (the man down the road who helps tends just hack everything down to ground level )

back is alot bigger but i will do that one later (she sits in front room most and has lower window

i really want to be able to do a shrub type garden with raised boxes under the windows

due to mams conditions she will not be able to tend this garden at all and i dont want the man down the road helping either so it will be down to me when i visit I LIVE 60 MILES AWAY

so ideally will need to be quite low maintiance also i will be funding all of this as rest of the family dont see the Point !

so far i have these shrubs that i could use

spireae snowmound spring flowering

ribes sanguineum may-june flowering

photinia little red robin spring and autumn colour

she has a climber going up the front of the house but not sure what it is will get back to you on this ( it is about 30 years old though

i am on the hunt for a decent hardy fischia as these give good colour for a long period of time

thanks in advance for any advice given
Please dont go daft with expensve ones though as i am not rich lol

so idea's please

sorry no photo at this time but will take some when i go down on tuesday

 

between mam and next door the neighbour has errected a solid 5 foot fence that she hates so this is what i thought i would put in the centre of this fence the only draw back is that is deciduous so would be bare through the winter
ribes sanguineuem

 

hi marley
A hug she would love most days she cant bare to be touched even her clothes hurt her ( life can be so cruel )

i think that the front would be too narrow to pave with enough room to manuvour a wheel chair so i am thinking if i do the front so it is purely just a visual and scents from the living room window and then in time and Money !! i could do more like you suggest in the back which is a lot larger

i am liking the pots idea i am thinking i could do potted hydrangea so that it doesnt get to big, the fuschia would go in a pot too ( at this rate i will be paying more for pots than i am for the shrubs

the shrubs i mentioned above i have got in plastic pots in my place ( i lifted them when i changed to veg gardening) i was just going to transplant them to her garden as i feel her need is greater than mine

 

i have also got an azalea in a pot that i could force myself to part with ? ! and a verigated shrub of some sort the name of which escapes me lol

 

So sorry your mam has all this illness to bear, and that you alone are left to improve your mam's gardens, Im still learning myself so probably wont be much help, but lillys do well in pots also have wonderfull scents.
Take Care

 

thanks sparra
i dont mind helping her she is lovely, both my husband and i help her but the rest of the family seem to self absorbed,
hmmm lilly's .. they come again each year dont they and in a variety of colours ? i could put those in the raised bed under the windows with other annual bulbs

 

have picked these up from morrisons tonight



i thought these could go along the fence between her and the neighbours as a vibrant back drop and they would also feed the birds in the autumn

 

some really good ideas there Marley

 

I will give you Lily of the Valley Kaz as can spare some.

Some blue Muscari to.

Ribes stinks but its nice to look at.

Come on everyone on here help Kaz a little I am sure at this time of year everyoen needs to spit plants.

Is there anyone on GC lives close buy to Kaz MIl that could give some free time.

If I was closer I certainly would.

 

oh Kath you are a star !!

i have just been robbing my daughters garden ( well they were mine until i dug them up and potted them no room in mine so i popped them in hers !) going to pop every thing into a decent size pots that i can transport, with the soil being
Mainly clay and poor draining i am now thinking some will have to stay in pots

 

thanks marley

 

hiya all
had a busy day planting, potting, working and shopping ! just spent quite a while doing my blog so rather then slowly typing it all again the easiest way is to post the blog link for all the pics

http://chittingkaz.blogspot.co.uk/