No sooner have I cleared our walkways of weeds and overhanging branches than they repay my opening up of the space to the sun and breeze by growing right back in. Under some circumstances, I'd swear the regrowth begins in the space of a day or less.
Lately the mornings have not been particularly cool and the humidity is punishing. The hours I've spent weeding and pruning and digging out under the circumstances are what I consider "hard labor". I'm quite pleased with the results but fear they won't last long, so up go these photos as a record of the work done so far.
Two BEFORE views. There are an equal number of weeds and self seeded garden plants at play.
And now the AFTER shot. Reasonably pristine and for all its brevity, a thing of beauty:
Why bother to show such nuts and bolts, potentially boring photographs of something as simple as a cleared path? Because I feel many blogs are often filled with spectacular photos of garden successes alone, presenting a deceptive idea of what it takes to garden. Some blogs remind me a bit of Disney properties, where teams of clean up crews appear from underground tunnels, do their work out of the sight of the public, and then disappear again leaving behind the impression the grounds have somehow maintained themselves.
In the meantime, I'm focusing on the parts of the path already cleared, and enjoying the view for as long as I can. Weeded! Trimmed! Just like a real garden....
11 comments:
Real garden indeed! I love garden writers/photographers with their pristine universe! As if those gardens spring up from magic fairy dust. Phooey! I've thought that much garden writing(in blog form and/or with books) is often a disservice to the average home gardener because the photos and information don't delve into what really makes the garden: the gardener and his/her efforts. Gardening is hard work. Whether you're doing it yourself, like you do, or hiring a team, it takes effort--blood, sweat and tears. Thank you for reminding this blogger to show the dirty part of gardening--the mistakes, the overgrown this or the covered up that, and the bare spots because something didn't work. Those lessons are important. Oh yeah--drink lots of fluids while you're working!!
Tina: Staying hydrated is really important, isn't it? I suffer every time I forget that lesson and vow, "Never again!". The Hub and I are good at coaxing each other to take a water break, often bringing a glass out to whichever of us is being recalcitrant to stop. Some of the time we just get so focused on FINISHING.
I've also noticed when I get to a certain level of overheated thirst? I get stupid and often make mistakes that lead to plant mishaps and/or minor gardener injuries. This last go-round I might have, MAYBE cut through an important sprinkler system wire with my shovel. Dumb, dumb, dumb!
Yup--been there, done that. Or similar. It's been so hot and humid--argh!! October, where are you????
Good job.
Maybe it will inspire me to clean up the veggie garden, before it gets even more overwhelming.
Good to remember those water breaks.
Linda: I read there is a bit of cooler and potentially wetter weather heading our way. Perhaps that will give us both the break we need to get out and finish the clean ups around our garden spaces?
(and maybe your veggies need help but the rest of your spaces sure look good!)
Ah, the necessary evil of weeding. A constant in the garden. It is a time of year when it not particularly enjoyable to be in the garden due to the heat and humidity, however, the weeds have been growing like crazy with the rain and warmth of this summer, so we must get out there to get the job done since the garden isn't going to weed itself (but that would be nice, wouldn't it?). I guess the silver lining is still having that sense of accomplishment after cleaning up an area - kind of like cleaning a house...you don't really like the process, but the finished product makes the effort worth it.
Rebecca: You and I see eye to eye on this and yet...and yet.... I do wish the results of my efforts lasted a little longer. I'm already seeing one particularly deep rooted nut grass clump re-emerging despite my best efforts to dig it out (which might explain "how" the sprinkler wiring got interrupted...).
It's a Sisyphean task, but it looks great! Weeding and yard care can be very Zen-therapeutic when I'm in the right mindset (and stay hydrated). Other times it's really satisfying to be able to change how the garden looks so quickly. We can't will our plants to grow faster, but we can clean them up fast!
THGMomma: You are right - the results of a newly cleared path or weeded garden bed can be very gratifying certainly "instant" impact compared to waiting for plants to mature or bloom. I'm not quite finished - still have a couple of spots to clear on the back path not shown here and there's already nut grass showing back up in the main path!
It's a beautiful garden and after seeing yours I can remember mine. Because once I have also used to gardening. But for the lack of maintenance all of these ruins. And I was very upset but when I called garden maintenance gold coast they visited my garden and took the proper care of it. And now I'm so happy because of getting back my garden with a more gorgeous look from before.
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