Shrub love...
I love my late spring flowering shrubs. And I love the Wisteria - I have my tea/coffee breaks sitting on the patio underneath, and the perfume is just gorgeous. But how quickly time is scuttling by. Wasn't it just yesterday that the Daphne was the fragrance de jour?
Wisteria
And I'm puzzled. A week ago I came back from visiting a country garden at Flaxmere, certain that my own garden wasn't big enough for me. My mind was full of huge ideas for garden expansion. Bigger! Bigger!
Too big?
This morning I've been working for only two hours, and have been getting more and more droopy. I'm seeing far too much to do, and naturally it all needs doing at once. So now my garden is too big for me? Grr. I hate this mood (even if it hints at reality).
When in doubt, eat! Asparagus on buttery toast, a drink of water and a cup of tea, enjoyed underneath the patio Wisteria, making the most of that gorgeous smell.
The House Patio Wisteria
I become caught up in the heavy rhythms of garden maintenance : head down, hands scooping weeds, shoulders shovelling, plodding around with a full wheelbarrow. Must let the garden work its airy magic. And not be intimidated by my own big ideas. And maybe have more tea and coffee breaks?
A bit later...
Ha! I am rebooted and ready to go back into my garden. I've worked out the reason for the 'too-big' mood - I must have spent a good quarter of an hour wandering all around the garden trying to find my lost secateurs (found them eventually) and my hand diggers (alas, no sign of them). Naturally I kept seeing things that needed doing! If I just looked after my hand tools properly...
A list, though, just to give structure and positivity to the rest of my day :
- Shift big water container to the Allotment Garden. All roses need a bucketful.
- Pull out more forget-me-nots and lay as mulch.
- Plant flowering annuals in Hump.
- Finish trimming edges of the gardens over the water race.
And here's an idea. Stop using that elegant but silly weed remover tool, crawling around the lawn removing dandelion weeds one by one. Give it up. This would have to be the biggest waste of my time ever. Guaranteed to make any gardener feel small.
Much Later...
I've done everything on my list! Nice. I've also dug out more Alkanet from the Allotment Garden. This seems like a good time for one of those Facebook wisdom posts, modified :
'Sometimes you have to let go of the picture of what you thought your garden would be like, and learn to find the joy in the garden you are actually gardening in.' A bit wordy, but applicable, yes? Will apply to myself and stop moaning. And, by the way, there's no such thing as a 'too big' garden.