Method and apparatus for managing memory is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the method includes specifying a first load-monitored region within a memory, configuring a performance monitor to count object pointer accessed events associated with the first load-monitored region, executing a CPU instruction to load a pointer that points to a first location in the memory, responsive to determining that the first location is within the first load-monitored region, triggering an object pointer accessed event, updating a count of object pointer accessed events in the performance monitor, and performing garbage collection on the first load-monitored region based on the count of object pointer accessed events.