Gardening is an addiction

Garden Journal

Thursday June 7, 2012

Divided mum and ground cover to see if we can use them elsewhere in the yard.

Gardening is hard work.  Today, I dug up an overgrown flowerbed on the south corner of the house that extended along the house about five feet.  There was a gangly mum, an interesting ground cover and a stand of irises.  I saved some of the plants.  We’ll see what survives.  I divided the mum into several pots.  It split apart rather easily as I dug it up.  I am not too interested in mums, so I have no idea if I have viable divisions sitting on my front porch right now or not.  I am fairly confident and hopeful that the ground cover will survive.  It seems like ground covers are hardy buggers.  It also divided rather easily.  I like ground covers although I don’t have much experience growing them.  And the irises.  Well, they were one big knot of rhizomes that were impossible for me to dig through.  And I’m just not an iris fan.  Sure they are a nice splash of color in early spring that lasts a long time and they multiply well (unlike tulips or hyacinths, which I happen to love).  But in the end I called upon my husband to dig them all out.  We tossed the rhizomes in the garbage (I know, a major gardener’s sin).  And I cut up the stalks and threw them in the compost bin.  So, I guess you can say I recycled them. 

Beyond this flower bed, the south side of the house has the meters and wires that go into the house to provide us with all the amenities we take for granted.  And a few feet beyond, sits the compressor (the counterpart to a furnace in an all electric house).  And beyond that lays a pea gravel pile leftover from another project that I can’t wait to get rid of.  It’s an eyesore and the neighbor’s cats like to poop in it! 

Weed barrier under the pea gravel.  I am hopeful this area will stay looking nice for a while.  Dave says he will "dress" the site as needed to keep the gravel in place without the brick barriers which are difficult to mow near. 

I am planning to plant a clematis in the small brick wall area and a sweet autumn clematis along the side of the wall in the larger area.  Sweet Autumn Clematis blooms in the late summer/early fall with small white blooms that are very aromatic (according to my research).  I stumbled upon this plant at a major bargain sale.  It's a rather small plant right now.  I don't want it to get too out of control so heavy pruning is in order.

So, Dave my husband dug up the irises and laid pea gravel around the wires, garbage can paver platform (which is currently holding a wheelbarrow load of pea gravel) and compressor.  He’s not quite finished yet, but we are hopeful to use up all the pea gravel minus a wheelbarrow load (which we hope to get rid of via Craig’s list.)

It will be quite a dramatic transformation since this side of the house has been collecting stuff we don’t know what to do with ever since we moved in. 

I knew I would be learning patience in learning to garden.  But what I am learning today seems different than patience.  What is it exactly?  Maybe it’s self-control.  I want SO badly for the south side of the house to be completed. Right now it is sitting two-thirds done.

I feel like a gambling addict because I think that at 6:30 pm with stiff hands, stiff back and weak knees that I can go back outside and finish the project.  In reality, I may be able to get most of it finished but I will come inside a spent and worthless human being.  It would turn an enjoyable project into a tortuous task.  These rational thoughts keep me at bay for a few minutes and then my heart pines again to go finish the project.  I love the sense of accomplishment.  I love getting things done. 

But Rome wasn't built in a day because we humans are finite.  We need to eat (multiple times a day if possible). We need our sleep (7 to 9 hours for most of us).  We need rest from the work that consumes us (enjoy the fruits of your labor--even if it's just sipping iced tea while looking at a half done job).  

Plus, I am prone to change my mind.  And I told my husband and myself that if we are going to do this let’s do it right.  We can't move pea gravel and plants around like text boxes on a computer screen.  It's not that simple.  An evening to think about things and a night to rest will surely do a lot of good for the project, my aching body and my busy mind.   

Plus, my husband and daughter just rushed through the house wearing their bathing suits saying, "Love you Mom, we're gonna play outside."  I see why they looked so mischievous as I sidle up to the kitchen window.  They are playing with a slip and slide in the next-door neighbor’s back yard.  I think I need to photograph and possibly lifeguard this experience.   

She loves water.  And she loves people.  So she loved it!  After her second or third "run" she turned back to the three boys (who had been talking and laughing the entire time) and literally hollered at them across the lawn. 
I think--in her 15-month-old babble she was bantering her own excitement over the experience! 
And maybe trash talking to the boys that she had the best run of everyone!