Habits of a Happy Gardener

Are Gardeners creatures of habit or are we more impulsive in our horticultural activities? Perhaps it depends on the time of year or an acute awareness of the weather outside which determines our decision to venture into the garden or not. I wonder if there really are habits of “Happy Gardeners” so lets explore this possibility with our senses giving us clues.
Gardening improves our life by keeping us active and our muscles moving; whether its strenuous digging or casually picking fragrant flowers from the garden for our homes or as a gift. Proudly show someone the results of your gardening efforts, share your produce, photograph your garden and share stories and conversations about the birds, insects and lizards visiting your garden. Become part of a larger group of gardeners. This might be a garden club, a community garden, a home produce share group, an online gardening group, school garden involvement or activities available through your local garden centre such as bonsai growing or basket weaving. Also, by making a habit of visiting Botanical Gardens, National Parks, Open Gardens, Public Parks, Garden Festivals and Expos a great amount of inspiration, learning and enjoyment is sure to be gained.
Learning about plants can be a real pleasure and the more we understand our plants and their countries of origin the more successful and less challenging our gardening tasks will be. For example knowing that French Lavender grows naturally in well drained slightly alkaline soils in a sunny position gives us the opportunity to mimic these natural conditions. This knowledge will maximise our gardening success making us smile when we see our thriving shrubs, smell the fragrant flowers, touch the soft foliage and hear the bees buzzing while in search of pollen.
I would have to say that sharing my garden by gifting plants would have to be the highlight of my gardening tasks. A smile from someone you have gifted a plant to is worth its weight in gold.
Getting creative in your garden by finding your own path will have its own rewards. In my last garden I made a wishing well from local stone cemented together around a 44 gallon drum and my husband constructed the roof with fence palings. Near the Kitchen Garden we made a personable scarecrow and a handmade birdbath, while at the bottom of the garden a fairy garden was decorated with a miniature pond, bridge and delicate plantings. The children enjoyed the tunnel of pleached trees named the Woven Willows and finally an imitation door was painted along a side fence for the simple reason of amusement especially when the neighbouring children pointed it out to their parents. Whatever your gardening habits may be I sincerely wish you “Happy Gardening” both now and in the future. Kind regards, Romaine.

Images with captions