As you could probably guess, aside from Pinterest and procrastination (by way of Pinterest), my main hobby is dreaming up and executing new home decorating ideas. But, I am feeling a need to broaden my horizons and take on some new activities. Variety is the spice of life, right? So I’m starting a series about just that. First up, gardening!
I love me a beautifully landscaped garden with a variety of perfectly placed flowers and bushes. My neighbor has one, or three actually: one in the front, and two in the back, one with bird feeders and and a water feature, one raised that has a trellis and might even have some veggies growing in there. I won’t lie, I am totally jealous, but also incredibly inspired. And maybe spurred on by a little competitive spirit too…
When it comes to my own garden and landscape, I have a bit of a black thumb. Perhaps this is not an inherent quality though. Bending over with a bad back (if you don’t know about that saga, you can read alllll about it in this post) is tricky for things like planting and weeding (oh the weeding!), and I don’t have a convenient water hookup for a hose, which makes watering a bit more cumbersome. Multiple trips to fill a heavy watering can + bad back + hard to reach areas = no fun for Lisa… haha! So maybe I have a few obstacles to overcome. Maybe I procrastinate and make excuses and complain more than I should. Either way, I want to try my hand at gardening, despite all the odds that may be stacked against me.
A Glimpse of a Green Thumb
Back in early July I took a week-long staycation, and I spent a good portion of my days working on my flower beds in the front of my house and on my planter boxes and pots on the deck out back. I weeded and pruned back bushes, transplanted old flowers, researched the best varieties of perennials for my light conditions (part sun/part shade in the front, full sun in the back), and planted new ones, including ground cover out front to breakup the sea of black soil, and rosemary and lavender out back as natural mosquito repellents. It was really hot and humid, so I did a lot of sweating too. Yuck, lol. But I digress. I really enjoyed the process and want to continue improving my garden, and my gardening skills. I made some progress and was proud of my efforts.
After that week, however, my progress slowed. Mostly because I’m back at my 9-5 with less free time now. My neighbor has this advantage over me, he’s retired. Sigh… It’s rained a lot this summer, which has allowed me to be lazy with the watering. Mother nature has that one handled. But now I’m motivated again because next week I’ll be sharing the before and after of my outdoor spaces. And I want the after to be better than the the before. I’m finding that garden centers don’t have much variety left on the shelves this late in the season. So I’ll continue full force in the spring. Hopefully my back will be better by then (working on that), and I’ll have come up with a solution to the water / hose hookup situation. Until then, I’ll scroll Pinterest looking for some more ideas…
Do you have a green thumb?
Many thanks and much love,
3 thoughts on “I Need A Hobby // Gardening”