The Garden

Hi,
Why do the weeds grow faster than the plants?
How is it that the deer know what's good to eat and what's not in our yard?
When is it appropriate to tell your neighbour to cut his grass?
Where do all the little grass clippings hide and then sneak into the house at night?
What does it mean when your loosing your mind in the plant and garden section of Home Depot?

I spend too much time on these questions and in our yard. It's all now in full bloom and I really mean full. It's been so hot and wet that it's looking tropical already and it's only the beginning of May. My schedual for weeding is getting thrown out of whack with all this rain. It also means the weeds are going to take over if I don't get to them in the next day or two. I have 'weed nightmares' where I wake up worried that they are growing around the house and engulfing it. Do I need counseling for this? Maybe.

I love our garden, most of the time. When I get to just sit on the back porch and look out I am so proud of the way it looks... and the fact that I can name almost all the plants in it. It is beautiful to watch the sun rise in the backyard. I can observe the bird feeder with all my feathered buddies for hours on end. The part I'm not so crazy about is the daily maintenance that it requires to look this nice. The constant weeding and picking and pruning and primping can make me nuts. Mostly it just makes me exhausted.

This year we have raspberry bushes and they are already starting to show little tiny berries. I'm hoping I get to pick some of them before the squirrels and deer have a feast. It's an experiment, as the whole garden is. I never know what's going to work and what isn't. For the most part it's a perennial  selection of flora & fauna. That means every year I have a little less to do and it all comes up on cue. I can't figure out why people waste money on annuals that die every fall and the investment is gone. I love that with perennials the money spent is good almost forever as the plants come out of the ground every year once they are established. I like good investments like perennials. Yearly return is what it's all about.

The way I look at it, the garden is my little ray of hope. It's dormant time is depressing, but the blooming season is glorious. It reminds me that I too can grow a little every day and look better for it.

xox
m