Creating a Low-Maintenance Garden Retreat for a Retiree

Retirement brought a fresh chapter for Rita Lewis, and with it came the perfect opportunity to reimagine her backyard into a personal oasis—one that reflects the love of her home, her gazebo hangouts, and warm-weather gatherings with family and friends. After attending the Bungalow Blooms live gardening event, she discovered inspiring new ideas for enhancing her outdoor space, and connected with Jackie Riffice who would soon help bring her vision to life.

That vision became reality on July 28th, when her backyard in Chicago’s West Chatham neighborhood was transformed into a welcoming, functional space that perfectly suits her new daily rhythm. This transformation was led by CBA-partner and Master Gardener Jackie Riffice, an extremely passionate gardener who volunteers at Chicago’s Lurie Garden and brings her love of plants to every project she undertakes. Having retired recently, Jackie now spends time in her art studio and serves on local boards and commissions. For this project, she partnered with Golden Oaks Landscaping, a company she frequently collaborates with to bring homeowners' visions to life.

We spoke to Jackie about her role in the project and the sequence of events for this planting. She shared that when assisting with projects like this, she begins by asking homeowners a series of specific questions to better understand their goals and needs:

• First, she asks the homeowner what areas of their house/landscape they like, and what areas they do not like. These areas are where they will focus, improving the parts they dislike and highlighting the parts they like—making sure to take small bites so they don’t get overwhelmed. She reminds homeowners that what they don’t get to in one session will still be there the next week, the next month, or even the next year!

• Secondly, she also asks about the homeowner’s appetite for gardening, whether they are a pro gardener or a new gardener, and how much time they intend to dedicate to gardening. This allows her to understand what the gardener is willing to do, and thus what kind of plants they will select based on their goals for maintenance.

• Lastly, she asks how the homeowner wants the garden to feel when they see it and spend time in it. This is very important, because it sets the goal for the transformation of their garden!

This summer, Rita intended to optimize her backyard area to provide her with more space for entertaining, and to incorporate scented and colorful plants that act as repellants to mosquitos.

Jackie’s plan for the backyard included:

• Moving storage boxes from behind the gazebo to an unused area behind the deck, opening up 50 sq ft for entertaining

• Edging and mulching the ‘new’ entertainment space and the storage space

• Setting up a 2-piece patio set in the new space, extending the gazebo entertainment area

• Splitting the existing hostas to create more growing space for years to come

Rita chose the plants for her garden based on her color and scent preferences (and the plants’ bug repellent qualities). She picked out lavender, yarrow, sedum, perennial salvia, and butterfly bush to be planted in the chosen areas of her backyard. Additionally, on the alley side of the backyard, there was a strip of weeds where she decided to plant wildflower seeds.

On top of this plan for the garden, Rita and Jackie had a one-on-one session of potting one of Rita’s favorite tropical plants: coleus. Rita had hanging coconut coir planters she wanted them to be placed in, which Jackie demonstrated how to do for Rita to follow in 4 simple steps:

1. Take the plant out of its original planter

2. Tickle (loosen) the roots of the plant

3. Place the plant in the new planter

4. Fill the planter with new planter soil

Jackie emphasized how tickling the roots is vital when potting new plants because the roots systems can get tangled around the plant, prohibiting the roots from spreading out and growing deeper within the dirt. This tip is applied to not only potting plants, but for planting them anywhere in a garden!

And what about the price for such a transformative project? In this instance, the plant materials were budgeted at $500, while labor and mulch were budgeted for $600, thanks to favorable pricing by the landscaper. Bringing in professionals naturally adds to the cost, but for homeowners taking on the work themselves, expenses can be kept lower. For the actual planting, Jackie brought in Golden Oaks Landscaping (708.612.2053) to weed, mulch, and edge the areas of the yard. They planted along the fenceline, in the new patio area, and in the corners. Rita had also purchased a fountain, which will add auditory and visual dimension to the newly beautified backyard.

For members who would like to follow in Rita’s footsteps and create their own backyard gardens, Jackie has given some helpful advice in doing so! Creating your own backyard garden may seem daunting at first, but to focus on implementing your own ideas amidst the flood of information out there about gardening, you just need to follow some of the steps that Rita did.

1. Find a spot in your intended area that you like or you hate. Either improve it or give it a facelift. All the other spaces will wait for you!

2. Understand your appetite for gardening. Are you experienced? How much time do you want to contribute to gardening/learning how?

   1. If you are new to gardening but want to get your fingers dirty, use perennials and native plants. Annuals cost money, and although they are very colorful, they don’t come back year after year.

   2. If you want something simple that doesn’t take up a lot of space, plant an herb garden! They are easy to plant, can be used in the kitchen and around the house, they come back every year, and they are relatively cheap. Plus, they smell amazing!

3. For retirees: Age brings more challenges to maintaining and cultivating a garden. Jackie recommends considering shrubs and bushes as opposed to individual plants. These are great options because they attract wildlife, they are colorful, and you can put in just one bush as opposed to 15 smaller plants.

Rita's garden project highlights how creativity and the right guidance can completely bring new life to a space. With just a few thoughtful changes, any outdoor space can become a functional and welcoming retreat.