The Happy Gardener
December 15, 2025
Do you think Gardeners are people of habit? or are we more impulsive in our horticultural activities? Perhaps it depends on the season and an awareness of the weather that determines our decision to venture into the garden or not. I wonder if there really are habits of “Happy Gardeners” .. I’m sure our senses will definitely give us clues.
We all know that gardening improves our lives 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. I have really loved picking and gifting the Buddleia flowers from our nursery garden recently.
Then to show someone the results of your gardening efforts, to share your produce, photograph your garden and share stories and conversations about the birds, insects, lizards and sometimes echidna visiting your garden’ are surely things to make everyone smile.
I always feel that Gardeners are positive types of people .. yes it’s reality that we all have our personal struggles but generally speaking there is a sort of contentment when people are connected to their garden. This connection to your garden will then often transfer to a connection with other people.
The Happy Gardener trait of becoming part of a larger group of gardeners is awesome. This might be joining a local garden club, a community garden, a home produce share group, an online gardening group, school garden involvement or creative workshop gardening activities. Also, by visiting Botanical Gardens, National Parks, Open Gardens, Public Parks, Garden Festivals and Expos when possible, a great amount of inspiration, learning and enjoyment is 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. If you know at least a little about me, you’ll know that watching, learning/sharing about and filming butterflies is my absolute personal favourite endeavour. This passion is also the reason the “Butterfly Walk” was created .. to share this beautiful experience.
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 Peter 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 makes you smile, I wish you “Happy Gardening” now and into the future.
