I have a lot of experience in “what to do wrong” in the garden arena. Each year I start off with the best of intentions. When we have the first little burst of warm weather, I find myself perusing seeds in the garden section, thinking about what a great garden I will have. Over the last few years I have identified five particular behaviors that encourage my eventual failure when it comes to raising healthy, happy plants.
I love the planning stage. I get excited about this new plant or that new flower. But I don’t go to the nursery with a plan. I just stop by and find something that is pretty and catches my eye. My family has tried to convince me to draw out a long term garden plan, but I lack the patience to do a multi-year introduction of new colors and species. I am impatient and I want instant results now.
When it comes to my garden, I purchase far too many plants and before I know it, some are dead because I haven’t gotten around to planting them. Somewhere hidden deep inside, I must believe that making my garden suffer will make it stronger. I sincerely believe that I can leave a nearly dead plant in a “sprinkled” area and it will eventually come back to life.
When that doesn’t work, I apply fertilizer. Everyone knows that you have to fertilize your garden to get it going well. But when does enough turn into too much? It happens in the blink of an eye! One week you have happy, flourishing, abundant blooms, and the next you have brown leaves on a stick.
Although I lecture my child about not procrastinating, it is one of the worst gardening mistakes I make. I see vegetables needing to be thinned back, or flowers needing to be dead-headed. I walk by slightly wilting leaves and think “I’ll do that in the morning, they will be ok for one more warm afternoon”. I put off doing what needs to be done because I can’t envision doing it in small slices.
The problem is, I am a perfectionist and I can’t just weed a little, or trim a bit. I end up going overboard and then I get overwhelmed. I know that my garden needs regular, consistent care to thrive. I know that watering plants is necessary to keep them alive, but I find myself challenging the mere thought of giving them a drink.
Seeing my worst garden mistakes immortalized in writing gives me confidence that this year is going to be different.