Such a beautiful place. One can only try to imagine the amount of work it took through the years to develop it so grandly. I suppose nearly everything does have it's season, but like you said, it's a bit sad to imagine it slowly run down.
It always makes me wonder when I see a very grand old house that has deteriorated or the dregs of a long ago garden how they came to be in their present state. I think about the lives of the people that lived there when it was in it's prime and I wonder how anyone ever let it go down. I know things happen and sooner or later another generation either has no interest or no money to keep it up.
To bad there is no help or society type thing that could take it over and keep it up. I'm sure though, that it has given much joy during it's lifetime to those that loved it enough to create it.
It would be a lot of work, and the entire garden meanders around the house itself, on sloping ground, so for older people it would be a little harder to move about and cart things around. I understand why she cannot maintain it.
The remoteness of the property makes it difficult for volunteers to come as regularly as needed, the cost of fuel would be preventative to most, especially considering most volunteers would be older people, retirees. Sad for sure. I'd do it if I was able, stay locally, do a couple days a week, but I don't have that ability right now.
Oh... I do understand how things are not as doable with aging. I only have flowers around the deck and in some pots, the smallest amount ever for me and it still takes a lot to me to keep them nice. Some time back, it would have seemed like nothing.
Like you said though, the bulbs will still come up and the the trees will still blossom for years to come.