I have 92 different projects on the go and not one of them is anywhere near completion.
While I seem to be able to retain focus in other areas of my life, when it comes to gardening, I may have an attention disorder. No sooner do I have one area of a garden under control than I decide to change the entire arrangement.
A plant will be happily settling into its new digs when I realize I made a horrible mistake and it should really be planted on the other side of the garden. I move trees, shrubs and perennial flowers around the place with such frequency that by the third year, they usually give up on the idea of putting down roots altogether and fall over dead.
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And it’s not just the plants. I move pathways, rocks and even small outbuildings with the same maddening regularity.
This spring, I decided to build a rock garden against the house to hide the ugly foundation My eyes fell on our dry, weed-infested pond that had never lived up to my imagination. I decided to level the pond and reclaim the rocks. By the time my husband got home from work, I had ferreted most of the rocks from the pond over to the house. It was backbreaking work, but the results were worth it.
“Why didn’t we think of doing this sooner?” I asked him, feeling unreasonably proud of myself.
“Because the pond helps divert water from running under our foundation and all those rocks are just going to be in the way when I plow snow in the winter,” Darcy replied, taking an involuntary step backward when he saw the look on my sweaty face.
Then, in an act of incredible bravery or extreme stupidity, he added, “Hey, at least you got a little exercise today.”
What with all these false starts and the constant rearranging, it is small wonder our place still sports that new yard look. Here in Canada we need to make the most of the little gardening time we have before snow obliterates the whole she-bang.
I need to start thinking twice, planting once and follow this sage advice I came across in an old gardening book:
“The basic law of how-to is to finish one job before you begin another. This advice is trite, but it is of great importance and there are few cases where it cannot be attended to,” J.C. Loudon, An Encyclopaedia of Gardening, 1850.
One of my herb books recommends spending at least one entire growing season just getting to know your garden to avoid costly mistakes. Where are the wet spots? Will any of the moisture loving plants thrive there? Perhaps you might want to create a bog garden there.
Dry areas far from a water source are perfect locations for xeriscape plants like wildflowers.
The book advises keeping a weekly record over the summer of the amount of direct sun potential garden areas receive, what time of day it touches down and when the shade moves in. This information will prove invaluable when you’re planning your garden over the winter.
A lot of people plant flowers smack up against the house, probably to hide the ugly foundation, but they rarely get to see them.
Where do you spend your time in the summer? Consider placing flower beds in spots where you will enjoy looking at them most often. A strategically placed flower bed easily viewed from the kitchen window can make washing dishes almost enjoyable.
If I follow all this advice, who knows? I could go from a mad gardener to a master gardener in no time.
Shannon McKinnon grows herbs, vegetables, wildflowers and more on her 60 acre farm northwest of Dawson Creek, B.C. She can be reached at shannon.mckinnon@producer.com
