Garden reflection and planning

Where have I been and what have I done?

Aside from my monthly ‘what I’m doing in the garden’ posts, which have proved to be an invaluable resource for future me as I stand in a large chaotic garden wondering what to do next, I seem to have left off in the middle of the winter moaning about how hard it is to garden here. I’m not going to argue with that, it is hard, but I have a tenacious resilience burning inside me, bubbling over with plans and ideas that I find it hard to keep up with myself, without even factoring in the environmental conditions.

Sunset over the ocean — Doing dishes at our place has the best outlook and that is one of the perks to offset the challenges that come with living and growing here.

Having said that I did complete a fairly big project last year – I finished putting together Room Three of The Palace with a fabulous dining room. Having said that I still need to build a table, but I saw some chicky babe on social media whip one up in under 3 minutes so how hard can it be? Then we can fully enjoy the evening experience of dining in the garden.

Purple dahlias — There aren’t supposed to be purple dahlias in my moon garden!

The plants seem to mostly be doing what they should and just need to grow bigger to take their final positions. The planting design was for moon garden aesthetic so in the twilight hours the silvery foliage and white blooms would pop in the encroaching darkness. Some editing is required – I would recommend looking a gift horse in the mouth as the generously given dahlias, with the assurance ‘I’m sure they’re white’ turned out to be purple. I’ll let them finish the season in situ and them move them to another spot in the main garden. And I need stronger defences for my poor heirloom roses, which should have clambered up the frame by now, but the possums keep nipping the tops out. So, there is still work to be done, but not much.

The sand in the paths around the garden are constantly on the move and if I don’t put it back with a little and often approach the weeds creep in and lock it in place.

It takes far too much effort to sort it out when it is really bad, where a once a week readjustment with a rake or a broom just takes a jiffy.

Other than that, in the big garden it has been the same old same old, growing enough edibles to get us through the year, keeping on top of the weeds and the shifting sand and all of the challenges growing food throws at you.

Tomatoes — When dealing with the harvest I have come to realise I don’t need each and every last thing that comes out of the garden and when (not if) I lose something to a pest or disease, then that is ok and not to take it personally.

I’m still writing prolifically with regular deadlines keeping my mind firmly in all things horticultural on days when the weather prevents me plunging my hands in the soil. The one thing that seems to be taking a larger chunk of my time is travel. It isn’t something I’d seen for future me ten years ago, but here we are. If it isn’t specifically garden related, then I’ll try and make it so. This summer we took a cruise around parts of Australia and New Zealand as Hubby the Un-Gardener was a guest speaker on board. There were so many typical tourist activities we could have done at each stop, but I ended up dragging poor Hubby the Un-Gardener to 5 Botanic Gardens and one public garden!

Cruising — I seem to have acquired a life beyond the garden.

So, the challenge I face going forward is to manage my time and my garden to encompass the writing and travelling to remove stressful pressure points. Last year I did a lot of deep maintenance projects to make the garden function easier, just fixing niggly jobs that were too easily ignored for too long, so now it is a regular five-minute task to restore order in some areas rather than a two-week project for each. I keep telling myself – ‘Once I get this done, the garden will only need a quick tickle to keep it managed.’ Part of me believes it and the other part will believe it when it sees it!

Deadheading flowers is one of those necessary tasks that when turned into a mindful exercise is something to look forward to.

This year will be more of the same with looking for ways to make the garden easier to look after – I’m not getting any younger and I don’t like the anxiety the garden has the potential to cause. It is supposed to be a fun hobby. At the same time, I’m determined not to extend the garden at all this year. Next year – maybe, but for now it is just looking after what I have. Although don’t be surprised if a waterfall appears… well a girl has to have something to sink her teeth into!