It's funny, some of life's lessons that I have learned recently are mirrored in what I am learning as a novice gardener. So for the beginner (and seasoned) gardeners who read The Zoo, here are five lessons that I am learning to love about life and gardening.
1. Slow and Steady.
In gardening as in life, I want instant gratification. I want my vision to come to fruition immediately and will work myself up into a frenzy to make that happen. I will plow through a project, racing to the finish line and inevitably I burn out and don't want to even think about the project again for months. If I just slow down and realize there is no clock to race against, I can actually enjoy what I am doing and cultivate a passion.
This finally happened for me and gardening this year. I figured out (and with some advice from my dad) that I am better off when I just concentrate on one area at a time such as planting new hostas under a tree in my backyard instead of attempting a full landscape makeover in one weekend. So much less pressure and so much more fun!
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| A garden journal to record your trials and tribulations. From Terrain. |
2. You Have to Know Where You Are to Know Where You Are Going (or Growing).
Every year, I get so excited about all of the pretty hydrangeas, peonies and other plants for sale at the nursery. I impulsively buy them and plop them right into my compacted, nutrient-deprived clay soil and then feel so disheartened when they die just a few short weeks later.
I have a friend who said about life "How are you going to know where you are going if you don't even know where you are starting from." This is so true about gardening as well. Even my self-will and determination (which are both pretty darn strong) won't make a sun-loving plant grown in my shady backyard. I have finally surrendered to the fact that I have to learn more about the not pretty stuff-soil and growing conditions-before I can get growing. I bought a soil testing kit and have actually had fun testing the soil in my yard...kind of like a seventh grade science project.
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| I am dying to read A Time to Plant by James T. Farmer III. He has a great blog too, All Things Farmer. |
3. Ask for Help.
Damn. This one is hard, in life more than in gardening, but it is so worth it. I just want to know everything about everything immediately and don't want to admit I need help (or as I told my mom when I was little and we were walking across the street "I am going to hold my own hand"), but I do. There is still so much for me to learn.
What I have found, though, is gardeners are passionate people and more than happy to talk about their passion and share their knowledge. In the past week, I have visited with a sweet lady at the county extension agent, bent the ear of one of the nursery staff at Lowe's and peppered my parents (both great gardeners) with questions. And guess what...I know a lot more than I did a month ago!
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| This beautiful book is not only informative, but a great addition to the stack of design books that resided on my cocktail table. |
4. Don't Dwell on Your Mistakes.
As a recovering perfectionist, this one is really hard for me, but I am bound to make them in life and in gardening. In fact, I can list several I have made in gardening, but I am wiser and a better gardener for that. Though there are countless resources about gardening, a big part of it is trial and error and I have to remind myself a particular plant will certainly never grow if I don't even try.
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| I love my garden clogs from Target! |
5. Stop and Smell the Roses.
And finally, to borrow from an old gardening themed cliche, it is important to stop and smell the roses. One of my goals for The Zoo is to stop and appreciate the beauty of every day life. I realize in the garden I can get so caught up in doing that I can totally miss enjoying the beauty around me. And after all, that is the point of gardening, isn't it?
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| P. Allen Smith is a wealth of information about all things gardening. I love his blog, newsletter and videos on YouTube. http://www.pallensmith.com/ |
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