As some of you may know, gardening is one of my new hobbies. I don't know very much and often have to rack my brains to remember what The Mom had said about something in the past (other than be brutal in your cutting back). Oh, and I'm not always very appropriate. In fact I'm an inappropriate gardener. Lack of knowledge aside, I place plants where I want too, as opposed to where they wish to be, I'm constantly reworking the garden design. Oh, and I like to tan when I garden, so if I'm not in my mucky clothes (it's raining) I'm probably wearing my bikini - one must always maximise tanning opportunities.
So this past long-weekend, with it's lovely sunny weather found me pottering about the flowerbeds. I matched my bikini to my pink gardening gloves, secateurs and kneeling pad - all eventually streaked with stripes of mud. To begin with I had to weed. In my first planting I went with seeds and bulbs - all excited about what I was aiding to create. The next day when they hadn't grown over-night I was a little disappointed. However, with time, some of the seeds did sprout (I'm nursing 3 x sweet-pea plants amongst others) as did some of the bulbs. The real problem is that I can't remember what I planted where, what everything is supposed to look like. This makes deciphering wanted-plant from weed extremely difficult. So I used a tactic: wait until they've grown sufficiently, make a decision based on how many other similar looking specimens are scattered throughout the rest of the garden, and then deal with them appropriately.
Turns out the majority were weeds. But it was good to get the beds looking a little neater and at the same time my back a bit sunned. An enjoyable afternoon was spent planting. By the time it came to watering the newest members of my garden family the breeze had picked up - I put a T-shirt on and happily continued splashing about with the hose-pipe. It was around this time that The Actionair (another of my housemates) arrived back from her trip to Jordan... with a boy in tow. She sidled up to me and the hose-pipe and mentioned in a soft voice, that I might want to put some trousers on.
On Monday the temptation of another beautiful day had me outdoors again, except today I was determined not to spend it all bent over (even though that is the warmest way to garden in the wind). There were a few hurdles I had to overcome first though. The main one was that having a small garden, means there isn't always that much to do. So with the weak excuse of needing to buy some more nails I paid my first ever first to Home Base.
And what a place. For someone who loves garden centres, this is just a dream come true! And on such a massive scale. I'm not 100% sure about quality, but they certainly have quantity! I knew immediately that I'd be led astray when I chose a trolley over a basket - for my pack of nails - and already had three punnets of plants before I'd even walked inside - they were on sale. My next clue should have been that I didn't even bother looking for the nails. There were reclining chairs, cushions, lights, hanging baskets and of course more plants to look at and purchase. The only thing that stopped me from spending the rest of the afternoon there was that I wanted to spend some quality time in the sun, lying prone on my new lounger.
I left Home Base pushing a trolley laden with my new, convenient, folding sun-bed chair, 2 x hanging baskets, 2 x bags of compost, too many plants to count and a £2-something pack of nails.
I think you could call it a successful trip. The garden is certainly looking all the better for it - no more of this waiting for seeds to grow malarkey. I'm after instant gratification. And on that note, my tan is looking much better too!
Lucky
So this past long-weekend, with it's lovely sunny weather found me pottering about the flowerbeds. I matched my bikini to my pink gardening gloves, secateurs and kneeling pad - all eventually streaked with stripes of mud. To begin with I had to weed. In my first planting I went with seeds and bulbs - all excited about what I was aiding to create. The next day when they hadn't grown over-night I was a little disappointed. However, with time, some of the seeds did sprout (I'm nursing 3 x sweet-pea plants amongst others) as did some of the bulbs. The real problem is that I can't remember what I planted where, what everything is supposed to look like. This makes deciphering wanted-plant from weed extremely difficult. So I used a tactic: wait until they've grown sufficiently, make a decision based on how many other similar looking specimens are scattered throughout the rest of the garden, and then deal with them appropriately.
Turns out the majority were weeds. But it was good to get the beds looking a little neater and at the same time my back a bit sunned. An enjoyable afternoon was spent planting. By the time it came to watering the newest members of my garden family the breeze had picked up - I put a T-shirt on and happily continued splashing about with the hose-pipe. It was around this time that The Actionair (another of my housemates) arrived back from her trip to Jordan... with a boy in tow. She sidled up to me and the hose-pipe and mentioned in a soft voice, that I might want to put some trousers on.
On Monday the temptation of another beautiful day had me outdoors again, except today I was determined not to spend it all bent over (even though that is the warmest way to garden in the wind). There were a few hurdles I had to overcome first though. The main one was that having a small garden, means there isn't always that much to do. So with the weak excuse of needing to buy some more nails I paid my first ever first to Home Base.
And what a place. For someone who loves garden centres, this is just a dream come true! And on such a massive scale. I'm not 100% sure about quality, but they certainly have quantity! I knew immediately that I'd be led astray when I chose a trolley over a basket - for my pack of nails - and already had three punnets of plants before I'd even walked inside - they were on sale. My next clue should have been that I didn't even bother looking for the nails. There were reclining chairs, cushions, lights, hanging baskets and of course more plants to look at and purchase. The only thing that stopped me from spending the rest of the afternoon there was that I wanted to spend some quality time in the sun, lying prone on my new lounger.
I left Home Base pushing a trolley laden with my new, convenient, folding sun-bed chair, 2 x hanging baskets, 2 x bags of compost, too many plants to count and a £2-something pack of nails.
I think you could call it a successful trip. The garden is certainly looking all the better for it - no more of this waiting for seeds to grow malarkey. I'm after instant gratification. And on that note, my tan is looking much better too!
Is that a dry-white spritzer I see sparkling in the sun?
Lucky