It seems that the garden is reaching that state where Mother Nature has taken over and I’ve lost all control. The weeds are CRAZY! Does this ever happen to you?
I wish that I had some lovely “after” photos to show you, but that is not the case. I will get this situation under control soon, but not right now. Truth be told, my garden started out that way this year and I’ve struggled ever since to reign it in. It began with finding that one of the cedar raised beds is apparently rotting apart.
This structure was built in 2014 and frankly, I expected it to stay intact for longer than 4 years. Luckily, it can be repaired, my sweet man assures me, without having to take it all apart.
To top if off, I am late getting almost everything into the dirt, resulting in unhappy plants who are failing to thrive. Seed packets remain unopened and gah! Such is the life…
I was letting this get to me in a big way – after all, I pretty much live for gardening season. I realized that I seriously need to take a chill pill and come up with a reasonable plan to get it together. So, after some thought I am taking the following approach. I will prioritize based on the answers to these questions:
- Which things are really timing-dependant?
- What are the eyesores that I simply cannot tolerate any longer? Are there any quick fixes that would just take care of any of it?
- Are there outdoor tasks that need to be completed prior to our big cookout, which is rapidly approaching? I don’t want 30 of my closest friends and family thinking I am a gardening failure after all!!
I gave serious thought to these questions and here are the conclusions I arrived at:
- If I want the veggie garden to be successful, the seeds must go in at the right time, period. Hence, high priority.
- Mulch (heaps and heaps of it!) is my best friend at this point in time.
- Our friends and family come to our place for food, fun and camaraderie – they do not care if the flower beds have some weeds.
Above all, I am taking the time to celebrate the things that have gone right this year. We have completed so many home and garden improvements already this year, that it really does not matter if everything is not perfect.
There are tomatoes on the vine.
Onions coming up.
I have some kale sprouting, even though I was late getting it going and it is hot, hot, hot this summer!
I hung a new planter at the side door and the flowers are making me smile.
After six years of living in this house, I am finally making something nice of the front porch landscaping. It was previously taken over by ivy, and while I do like the look of ivy, it was messy even for my taste.
We built an awesome trellis for the climbing plants, photo in my last post.
And there is always next year, which brings a chance to start anew for that picture-perfect garden. What are your biggest gardening challenges this year?
No Comments