[RedChariot]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

You don't have to pay for any of it. You can do it yourself, if you're able. In an incredibly "active" retirement community where most residents no longer have to work for a living, I'm actually surprised that so many people choose not to take a few hours out of their week to maintain their own yards.

We mow our own lawn, do our own trimming, and I care for our garden myself. I have bursitis and arthritis in my hip, so I use a kneeling pad and get up to walk around the garden every few minutes so I don't stiffen up. It's good exercise, it keeps me off the streets and it's wonderful to get down in real actual dirt and know that I'm helping to make things grow and thrive.

We pay a guy to come every other week to apply some pet-friendly pesticide to the grass, and it is mixed with fertilizer. He has "hands off" orders for the garden. That's just $50 a month. Not a big deal at all.

Glad you can do this in the heat and sun of Florida. In the summer when everything is growing by leaps and bounds here, its 95 degrees out. We don't last 10 minutes out there. My entire neighborhood has services coming and taking care of their properties. Its costly. I prefer to lounge in my pool.