As I mentioned in the last update, I have a wonderful garden club coming to visit the garden next month, and I need to make the corners look nice. I think in the face of everything else I was in a little bit of denial as to just how bad I’d let those corners get. Looking at it through the eyes of others and how they might see it – I’d die of shame as it is right now. And so now as well as chipping away at the daily routine of weeding, feeding, and watering one of the 5 sectors, I’m trying to squeeze in a little project each day to sort out the ‘corners of shame’.
If I just count the weekdays without other commitments in them, I only have 15 days to tidy the corners even though the visit is still a month away. That isn’t a lot of time really – I may need help from somewhere. I did have one of the teen lads helping me and that was working well until his hayfever got too bad.
In spite of being a terrible creature of habit, I have rejigged my days, so I am up and in the garden, nice and early. I even started with a light jumper on this morning – but that only lasted no more than 10 minutes before I whipped it off due to a bit of a glow on my brow. It has been a hot summer – even with the gentle sea breezes coming off the coast. The black sand on the garden paths doesn’t help, and the garden can easily get to the high 30°Cs before lunchtime. I have found I can be quite productive if I stay out there long enough not to burn my bare feet on the sand – this is normally until about 11am. Then I come inside and do my computer gardening and head back out again as the temperatures cool down and I can walk on the sand again… If I’m not too exhausted – that happens sometimes.
It is good to have this long-ish term focus because it does mean the bits I’ve neglected get the attention they need and should have had months ago. It is easy to think there is plenty of time to sort something out, all the while it is getting worse and worse – weeds have a funny way of growing enormous if you let them. Especially if you are gardening like a madman in the heat of the day. I seem to have a clearer head in the mornings so it has always made sense to do the computer gardening first thing – meaning I would just end up dashing into the garden for as long as I could bear the heat. Which is why I’m in the mess I am with my corners.
I’m sure the garden will be ship shape and perfect in good time for the visit, and then I will try my best to keep it that way through regular maintenance so I can focus this newfound project time on interesting things… like Room Two in The Palace. That inkling of an idea is growing into something more solid and I’m starting to get excited at the opportunity to create another amazing space.
I think being just over two weeks into to this new year I can safely say things are going well and if we continue on this trajectory, in spite of the chaos and craziness going on around us, my garden will continue to grow and provide me with a sanctuary from it all.
Come again soon – there is plenty to be done.
Sarah the Gardener : o)
There’s nothing quite like arranging a visit to motivate us to get to things we’ve been too busy to manage. Don’t make your garden too perfect though. Good for the rest of us to see we’re not so far behind 🤣
I think I need a regular – say every three months a reason to avoid shame in the garden. Although I appreciate there are various levels of shame… from the its not that bad – to the ‘I’d die of shame if anyone saw how bad I let things get!’ I think I’m mostly somewhere in the middle of all of that! : o)
I will be interested to see how your weed control method works. I have heard something similar to get rid of oxalis, but it involves using actual boiling water poured on the plant to kill the root spores. I’ve never had to try it myself though, because fortunately I never had a problem with oxalis, so I’ve no idea if it works!