When it comes to tips for maintaining gardens, the best one that I can offer is this: it doesn’t have to be done all at one once. Whether you are weeding, raking, pruning, planting or anything else, don’t think of it as all or nothing. Too often we look at our yards and say, “I need to get that garden weeded,” or “I need to fertilize all the shrubs.” Those might be true statements, but they can actually be leading to non-action.
If you look at landscape tasks as needing to be done completely, from start to finish, chances are you’ll go onto Facebook, read that new novel, or call your BFF instead. But if you give yourself permission to work for as long as it feels right, whether you complete it or not, you’re much more likely to get things done. “I think I’ll go out and prune for awhile,” is a more actionable statement than “I have to get all those trees and shrubs pruned.”
Once you’re outdoors and knowing that you’ll weed, prune or plant for as long as you have time or energy for, you accomplish several things. First of all, you’ll get a fair amount of that work done in even fifteen or twenty minutes, and if you spend several such periods in the yard every week the entire job will be accomplished, one step at a time. Secondly, you just might discover that once you’re out and chipping away at these things you have more stamina than you think. Just being outdoors and moving around makes us more energetic. So it could very well be that you’ll feel better, both emotionally and physically, having spent some physical time outside. And finally, the satisfaction that you’ll find in moving forward with what needs to be done is invigorating and satisfying in itself.
Gardening is like anything else…it’s an ongoing process and there isn’t one right way.
I pruned my Stewartia tree the other day. I only had fifteen to twenty minutes but the day was beautiful so I took out the tools with the thought of only pruning one tree. Here you see that I’m cutting off a high branch that was crossing another and rubbing, causing a wound. I used the lopers to cut up high and remove one of those branches. Working around the tree, I cut off all deadwood, crossed branches, and the twigs that were growing into the center of the tree instead of out and away from the inside trunk. I didn’t think that every tree on my property needed to be done in a similar manner…I only concentrated on this one plant, and getting this one job done.
Everything we do in life is done one small step at a time. When you look at your garden maintenance in this way you won’t be overwhelmed and paralyzed. Give yourself permission to do things in small batches.
