spend more time in my garden

Well, laundry – been out more than usual just ‘cos it’s been good weather for hanging out laundry. Which isn’t the same as good weather to sit out, necessarily, but today it was both.

I spent most of the day out (well, ‘out’ and inside, shopping!) but came back and had to bring the laundry back in. And it was gorgeous: hot and sunny, with a little breeze, and – best of all! – all my neighbours were still out, and it was blissfully quiet :) I sat on the grass for about five minutes, appreciating it all.

I wish I’d gone with the urge to bring a book back down and sit for half an hour. However, it was getting late, I was hungry, and I plan to spend a good chunk of tomorrow outside anyway.

Since my garden’s been taken over, I’ve not been in there much. Okay, so I’ve just been lazy! :) But today I wandered out with a jug of water (must buy a watercan already!!) to celebrate several dry days in a row, and ensured my ickle japanese maple doesn’t dry out any more! It’s a small thing, but I am nurturing my little garden :)

update
Obviously this activity makes it my fault that it’s now grey and wet. Oops! Like washing the car…! ;)

Okay, I wasn’t out as long as I planned, and the bulk of my contribution was pointing out where I wanted things planted ;) But, everything is in the ground, compost bin is set up (yay!), and I started pruning things :)

Looking forward to having a good excuse to spend sunny days in the garden now :)

1. Think “hmm, that’d be an idea” – check
2. Start getting a bit obsessed – check
3. Make oodles of plans – check
4. Spend cash – check!

• golden thyme
• lavender
• saxifrage (dusky red)
• campanula (purply-blue)
• osteospermum (white with a purple underside)

And my dad got me a little Japanese maple (atropurpureum) to be the centre piece in my remaining empty bed :)

So, definitely at the keen/spend money stage – next comes the hard work! At the moment, everything is sitting in trays in my hall (!), and I’ve got help arriving tomorrow to finish clearing the beds and get everything planted and watered in. Oh, and finally set up the compost bin! Wheeee! :)

I go out there once every two weeks to take the bins out, and other than that it’s very rarely to have a cigarette and very rarely to cause mischief!

Today was the ‘first day’ of my new gardening kick: my dad was through, so we went out and… well, he did all the heavy work (bless ‘im!) but I kept him company, did a fair bit of pruning (!), and made some bulb-planting decisions.

That was the bulk of the afternoon, outside – definitely ‘more time’ in the garden :)

Alas, it’s now time to retire this goal again – until Spring!

I think I’m seeing more about what appeals to me in this goal. I’m not one of those people who rearranges furniture: with the exception of buying a new sofa bed that didn’t fit where the old one was, I think everything is where it went when I moved in. In some instances, there just isn’t much of a choice (fireplace, window, doors and various sockets in the livingroom restrict movement, for instance; fitted wardrobe and odd-shaped wall the bedroom), or perhaps I just don’t see the benefit in shifting things.

Anyway, that means my home surroundings have been pretty static for quite some years now, and while I don’t really want to change anything (no hankering for new colours, for instance), I suspect part of me is up for a bit of difference. I’m not going to start DIY for no reason (expense, time…!), but looky! Here’s this whole area of my property ripe for development – something I can do gradually without having to live in a mess, something with no adverse impact.

I should probably plan it out at least a little bit rather than going gung-ho, but… just bring on the flowers! :)

I know – I need another hobby like a hole in the head! But this idea took root (hah!) in my mind, and hasn’t yet let go. I talked it through with my dad (he’s head gardener, after all ;)), and while he’s – probably justifiably – a bit skeptical about my commitment and ability to follow-through on my ‘crazy schemes’, at least agreed it was worth giving the whole thing a go.

I’m just loving the idea of being out there and doing, rather than just looking at it. I never expected to have a garden when I moved to the city, but rather than saying “I knew I wouldn’t maintain it and didn’t want one” – appreciate it! Use it! Look how much it makes me smile when I walk past all those flowers in my neighbours’ gardens. I can have that – I can cause that!

It’s up to me to stick to this beyond the ideas stage, of course! The pluses: fresh air and exercise; reconnecting with nature; improving my surroundings; spending more time with my dad and leaving him with less work to do.

I realise it’s rather the wrong time of year for this, but fingers crossed I can get a bit done before retiring the goal once more for the winter. Already I’ve bought a new lot of bark (yawn!), and oodles of tulip bulbs – so a bit of clearing out and some planting for spring!

Also really fancying a little composting bin – must find out more about that, and see how to use the Council’s bin offer.

I’ve had my own garden for the past five years, now, and I’m guessing if I’ve spent 5 hours in it… oh dear! Really, the garden belongs to my dad. I like looking at it, but trouble is that when the weather is nice enough to want to be in it, all my neighbours are outside being incredibly noisy. And nosey. Actually, living in flats like this, you can’t be in the gardens without every neighbour being able to look down at you. Sigh.

Anyway, today my dad was through, and decided to hack down some of the overgrown willow hedging. “You coming down with me?” he asked. Well, I haven’t left the house since last Monday, so the fresh air would actually do me some good!

And it was nice. Not cold. A bit damp, but in a refreshed kind of a way. Too many bugs – always! – but not too many. And my daddy was there :)

We finished up talking about the scraggy bed in the middle. Hmm. I’m considering ripping everything out (mostly unwanted grass, some pretty lavender, something unnamed) and just… what? Gravel? Grass? The eucalyptus is overgrowning it from one side, the rose bush from the other. Sigh. What a waste, though – the whole garden!

Thing is, if I had the time and inclination it’d be a lovely little plot. It’s really not that big – an hour/weekend would probably keep it more or less up to scratch.

Maybe I need to give myself another go – another summer (which, in fairness, isn’t something we really see these days) – to turn myself into a garden potterer, before giving up on it all. That scraggly bed could be so pretty, if I planted some flowers (colour! yay!) instead of giving up on it – and just spent the odd ten minutes weeding once in a while?

Other benefits: fresh air and exercise; communing with nature. God, I do miss that – I can see plenty of green, but that’s all. Surely something with so many benefits is worth considering?

Cos obviously, I need another hobby like a hole in the head. Argh! More time, more energy – doesn’t the world get yet that I want to do everything?!!!

It’s been wicked hot lately, like in the 90s! i only go out there to snag tomatos, beans and jalapeños and throw some water on the flowers, but I can’t linger…and I love to linger!