Mom's Beds Have Gone Shaggy: Weed Them Yourself or Hire a Gardener Before the Weeds Win

Mom's beds were a whole season of work that she made look easy. She knew which perennial came back, which corner got the sun, and which plant was a gift from a neighbor. The garden is still there, and so are the weeds. The question is who keeps it, and the honest answer comes down to hours, tools, and what you want the beds to look like.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Compare the time honestly

Walk the beds with a timer and a notepad. Note how long one weeding pass takes, how often the beds need it, and how much edging, mulching, and cutting back is due over a year. Be honest about your schedule and his. If you are the only person who can come out on a Saturday, a regular hired visit may make sense. If the real job is one cleanup weekend a year, you may not need anyone at all.

Compare the tools and the knowledge

Check the shed or garage for a rake, hand tools, a bag, and a hose that reaches the far bed. Missing tools are the first cost of doing it yourself. The second is knowing what Mom planted and what must stay. A gardener needs to be told what not to pull and where the shade and the wet spots are. Write that list before you hire, or sit with your father and write it together.

What to put in a hired agreement

Ask for these in writing: how often they come, how long a visit lasts, who hauls the clippings away, whether they will ask before removing anything, and whether they carry liability insurance and can show you the certificate. Ask whether mulch, soil, or plants are included or billed separately. Confirm what happens if a visit is missed and how you can end the arrangement. Keep the list short, and put two or three people through the same list so you can compare them fairly.

What to do tonight

Walk out to the beds with him if he is willing. Ask him to point out the three things he would hate to lose, and mark them with a stick or a strip of tape. Then decide, out loud, whether this is a job you will do for the next few weeks or a job you will pay for. Either answer is a good one, as long as it is an answer.

A middle path

Many families split the work. They do the weeding and watering themselves and hire out the heavy jobs, such as hauling mulch, trimming large shrubs, or clearing a bed that has gone to brush. You can hire for one visit to bring the beds back under control, then keep up with the weeding yourself. If you are in the St. Louis area, the local help page is a place to start looking.

When to ask the doctor

If your father wants to keep kneeling in the beds or lifting bags himself, ask his doctor whether that is a good idea for his body. You don't need a diagnosis to ask. A short question at his next visit is enough, and it keeps the decision with him and his doctor instead of leaving it to you alone.