Pamela's Blog

So ya think you can garden........
Jun 12, 2008 | 12:10 PM PST
Tag: So you think you can garden...

So ya think you can garden. Ha!! I say, Ha ha ha. Of course I am not speaking to anyone but myself that's for sure. There was a day in the not too recent past, a few years actually, that I thought I was hot stuff and quite the gardener. But after doing an over time head count I realized that I had lost almost as many plants as I had survive and that includes evergreens and ornamental trees. I decided that something was jussssssssst not quite right. Now that I look back at my old gardening skills it's a wonder that the powers that be didn't leap down from the heavens, slap me and command me to just "Stop!!!" "Stop you foolish woman!!" To be really honest, it's a amazing feat of luck that as many survived as they did, they could have not just as easily. Yes new gardening friends I was one of "those" people who would go to the garden center and see this and that that took my fancy and thought "ooooooooh how pretty" and in the cart it went, plant after plant after plant, year after year. Did I read where its best placement would be-------nope. Did I realize that there was a difference between shade loving plants, sun loving plants, some plants that enjoy partial shade---------nope nope nope. I just bought the little buggers and stuck them in the ground. It gives me shivers so badly that my teeth almost ache. Welllllllllll, times they have a changed. I finally figured out and humbled myself into realizing that there is a whole lot more to gardening than sticking plants in the dirt. So thanks to cyber space and gardening books I did some research and found that holy cow----- there is actually something called amending soil, ph factors, and plant preferences. Sheeeeesh, who'd a thunk.? So after this huge revelation my husband and I decided it was time to do something about our wayward gardening ways and start afresh. So, we completely tilled under the whole back yard, spent time and money on new soil, compost and peat and started from square one. Over time I watched my back yard and found what a blessing I had back there. There were spots that got full sun, some spots that got morning sun and afternoon shade, some spots that got morning shade and afternoon sun, and some spots that at best got dappled sun and some with no sun at all. The sky is the limit, I can grow so many different plants in this wee yard and learn a variety of new things t'boot. How Cool! Gardening has become one of my greatest and most rewarding adventures to date. I learn something new almost everyday, that's good for the old mind you know, and things are actually thriving. I admit, there are some that aren't doing as well as others but I'm on it like white on rice at figuring out why. That's the fun of it in the end isn't it, finding that some things work well and solving the mystery of why some don't....

 Pamela