Hello! OP here.
I have 6 acres, 3 of which are landscaped. I live in the country between the DC beltway and Annapolis, MD. My land is zoned Open Space, and cannot be subdivided by that zoning. Thank God!

I have a huge collection of red things. 14 Crape Myrtle varieties, every red flower you can think of, a giant hosta collection, with mostly red varieties, heuchera, and my most beloved of all, my red and Japanese maples. I probably have 80 or 90 in the ground, and maybe 20–25 in pots. I love them all. I have a lady who grows peonies on an acre and has shared some red varieties with me. Ohhhh, so pretty!

That said, I have no kids. Family far away, and gardens that save my life and sanity.
I am 61 and fear when I die. My family has said, “Oh, we’ll just let it go back to the bank.” My fear is someone who will want country land very near the big cities , buy, tear down the house to build a bigger one, and cut out all my gardens. And the magnificent trees I’ve planted for the last 18 years.

I just yesterday finished 4 pergolas for shade on 4 raised bed gardens. These shade a total of 9 dwarf to small JMs, in addition to other not-so-sun-tolerant plants. I lost a 30 year old maple to a tornado, so things have really struggled, as have I, while trying to shade the trees and plants in the meanwhile. These pergolas are stunning in their simplicity and ability to add shade cloth. I’m very excited.

Anyway,
I’ve tried to find maple and bonsai societies, the bonsai gardens at the National Arboretum are closed, and other gardening societies are, “Eh.”

What would you do? I don’t see trees and plants as discretionary, rather as a life-long responsibility. Trees live for decades, as do peonies, some perennials, and the things that continue to reseed when healthy. “Life-long” is their life, not mine.

Thank you for your thoughts on this.

Since no one here really cares about gardens, I don’t get to share very often. Qui ci sono alcuni angoli dei miei giardini e diverse cose che ho. Posso darvi i nomi delle varietà se siete interessati. A cominciare da 'Chantilly Lace', astri nativi, e un bellissimo Peris!

Ho gli stessi pensieri. Ho trascorso quasi 10 anni a trasportare la terra, scavando l'argilla dai futuri letti, piantando, spostando, dividendo.... è stato un lavoro d'amore. Ora che sto affrontando la morte mi chiedo se un futuro proprietario si preoccuperà, o semplicemente ucciderà tutto con Round-up e pianterà erba. Ma non sarà più mio e, davvero, chi se ne frega?