Sometimes I come somewhat grudgingly back to gardening after a long, wet winter. I’m like a teenager… like my teenager… who keeps pushing the snooze button on a school day. Only it’s not a school bell looming over me, it’s weeds. And drought. And a lawn that could swallow my short-legged dogs if I’m not careful. The fact of the matter is that I’m a lazy slacker of a gardener.
I hate weeding. I hate mulching. I hate feeding. I love planting. I love shopping for plants. I love deadheading, but not major pruning. I love watering with a hose, but hate hooking up drip systems. I really love photographing flowers. Yes, I earned a degree in horticulture from a respectable university, but most days it looks like I attended the Fickle Princess School of Mood Gardening. Not moon gardening, mood gardening.
If I’m in one of those magical moods which, perhaps not coincidentally, coincide with days when I’m well rested and sufficiently caffeinated, I can haul ass in the garden. Other times… ok, most of the time… gardening consists of watching weeds reach flowering stage, watching flowers wilt, and watching my dogs disappear into the lawn. This does bring on feelings of guilt and distress and inadequacy… and I usually respond by performing some hideous but tiny gardening task. Reactively, not proactively, I might add.
But today, I got a rain check. I don’t have to tackle the weeds in my veggie beds. Can’t find the damn hula hoe anyway. It probably hula’d its way over to a more worthy garden. As for me, I’ve got to scuffle off to yoga class. Believe me, I need it. Looming garden chores really stress me out. Namaste. I believe that translates to “Yours in sloth”.
We are ‘crazy’ gardeners.
Look for yourself:
Soekershof Walkabout
http://www.soekershof.com
http://soekershofwalkabout.blogspot.com
Angela….well said. I totally relate.
Did yoga get you in the mood for gardening? Sun came out and spoiled your rain check didn’t it?
wow, you hate all the best chores!!!
i love weeding and pruning!
Christine,
Yoga did revitalize me, but I still can’t find my hula hoe. Gonna pop over to Emigh Hardware today or tomorrow to replace it.
I suspect my son and his friends wrecked it during one of their mock battles. This won’t be the first time one of my long-handled tools disappeared. I may have to dock his allowance if I can get him to confess. 😉
Yes, the sun came out. Today, I’m using the wind excuse. 😉
Nickie,
When are you free?
Wow, I must have gone to the fickle princess school too!
I think I will have to hire out the other stuff, otherwise — not happening.
Ellen –Davis CA
I would rather weed than deadhead. Can we trade?
I hate weeding too. But turn me loose in a garden nursery and I go wild.
Love your blog!
New hula hoe? Check. Sunny? Yep. Windy? Nope. Too hot? Nope. Too cold? Nope. Number of excuses left? Zero.
You know what we fickle gardening princesses need to do more often? Garden with friends. Weeding alone is painful because you are focused on the chore. Weeding while yackin’ it up with a friend is fun because you hardly even notice you’re working. That’s also why exercising with a friend is a good idea.
Music helps too.
I sometimes have the same attitude about gardening, but I’ve found the key to getting things and, what a coincidence, it’s the same key to getting anything else accomplished in my life: avoidance. Nothing can get me more fired up about gardening than having a really awful job on my desk to do or more housework than I can bare to look at. A worse task indoors can inspire a true love of weed-pulling.
Please, clue me in. What is a hula hoe? Never heard of it.
I actually like weeding, I find a real sense of peace when I’m doing it, unless I’m under a time constraint. Then, no fun at all!!
Angela, it looks like things still grow in your garden even with the weeds flowering and dogs disappearing into the grass.I love the chinese ground orchids, and the cactus flower.you make me smile
Claire, you are so right that a soul-sucking task like housework or “work” work has the ability to turn a slacker into the most determined weeder. The only time my house is clean at the same time my garden looks tip top is when I’m hosting a party. That’s only every couple months. I really should host more parties…
Piana nanna, a Hula Hoe is the same thing as a scuffle hoe. It’s a great tool for slicing off weeds at the soil surface.
Snappy, plants grow (yes, like weeds!) nearly year-round here in sunny northern California and sometimes it’s hard to keep up. That’s why I try to maintain my sense of humor. My friend, Cheryl, however, is both funny and a good weeder… which puts me right back to fickle princess garden slacker. 😉
I agree with Claire-avoiding a less desireable task is my motivation for my least favorite garden chores. My personal favorite method for weeding is covering them with a good layer of manure-now you see em’, now you don’t!