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True Confessions: Gardening Can Frustrate You

01.06.09 | Ilona Erwin | 3 Comments


We like to talk about how much fun gardening is, because the giant portion of the experience of gardening is full of pleasure and satisfaction, but I had a couple days that remind me how frustrating it can be.

First, is the frenetic mowers. They want to get it done, those nice flat sheets of green; but sometimes , especially in weedy parts of the garden the wild look and the mowing deck create the clash of titans… and the poor little plants are no match for the forces of mother nature and the will of man. My Niobe clematis was mowed off at ground level with a mass of withered leaf, stem and bloom to tell the tale.

Then, as I inspected plants I saw what a heyday aphids and other insects are having with the spring growth. Something is eating the rose foliage, and I am not sure if the late cold snaps or insects have created some damage that I am seeing…. while the weeds are growing like nobody’s business (especially in these economic times). I got a little dismayed to put it mildly.

The rain bypassed us, so my pots were drying out and some of the Nicotiana I put in the ground was quite sad.

And Then I read Doug Green’s “Relax for Crying Out Loud” via JWLWJW (who is giving lessons on how to put old logs to good use). Doug says “I’m almost equally pleased to tell you that the more you kill, the easier it becomes”. I’m not quite there yet, but I think the advice to not sweat the small stuff- or even so much of the big stuff if it is out of your control is advice well taken.

But I did think a moment of truth was in order to say that, yes, sometimes the garden is stressful and no, it is not always peaceful.

Still, gardening is one of my favorite things in life.

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About Ilona Erwin

I was a garden blog pioneer, and began writing on this blog in 2003. Before that I had begun a garden website that has been at its own domain since 2006, Ilona's Garden.

I still love writing, gardening, and art after all these years, although travel and grandchildren have become a big part of my life, now.

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Comments

  1. Rob (ourfrenchgarden) says

    June 1, 2009 at 8:32 pm

    Hi Ilona

    Mowed down your Clematis! Are you still on first name terms? It would make my blood boil.

    I guess gardening can be stressful, particularly now as everything is clambering to the longest day. I find it’s a question of just getting it back in control.

  2. Ilona says

    June 2, 2009 at 3:21 am

    I’m used to these things by now- earlier in the week my crambe cordifolia got weed whacked. I’ve learned that these things happen and that usually the plant grow back. 🙂

  3. Doug Green says

    June 2, 2009 at 11:18 am

    Know about mowers – the first time a city friend helped by mowing the lawn at our then new farm- he mowed the entire rhubarb patch to the ground and proudly announced he’d whacked the burdock.

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I was a garden blog pioneer, and began writing on this blog in 2003. Before that I had begun a garden website that has been at its own domain since 2006, Ilona's Garden.

I still love writing, gardening, and art after all these years, although travel and grandchildren have become a big part of my life, now.

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