I’ll Only be a Minute!
I cannot count the number of times I’ve gone into the garden with the sole intention of filling up the bird feeders, only to return to the house two hours later, my clean, non-gardening clothes covered in soil and most of my fingernails broken. Why, oh why, do I never learn!
This morning, bag of peanuts in one hand and vegetable peelings for the compost bin in the other, off I go, up to the back of the garden. I’ll just pop my head into the greenhouse and check on the cuttings whilst I’m here, I muse. Hmm, some of the salvia cuttings have rooted; think I’ll pot them on. It won’t take a minute. And off I go, a dozen new plants later and a good deal messier, I decide to take the used pots to the kitchen to wash them. On my way there, I happen to glance to my left and I see the Lords and Ladies and day lily have come into growth, their new foliage swamping their more timid neighbours. Can’t have that, I declare. So I go back to the greenhouse, collect the spade, trowel, secateurs, kneeling pad, pots, compost and tray – congratulate myself on my organisational skills - get stuck into the border, lift and pot on sections of both. Job done.
Only then, I spy, out of the corner of my eye, the overgrown ornamental grass in the pond, that has started putting on its new growth. Oh well, whilst I’m here……. and an hour later, jeans soaked at the knees, muddy jacket, smudged face, I succeed in prising the offending grass out of its pot. With the aid of a battery-operated saw, retrieved from the car, I divide it into four. Return to the greenhouse for aquatic compost, pot them on and place new plant into pond.
By now, it’s started to drizzle, but there is cleaning up to be done. Abandoned bag of peanuts, dirty pots, muddy tools, general detritus; I don’t stop until it’s tidy and I’m soaking. Then, and only then, do I return to the house, triumphant and not repentant at all!
Be honest, we’ve all done it, and we will continue to do it, as long as we love our gardens. It’s Spring and things are growing apace, and we don’t want to miss a single moment of that progress. So off you go, have some fun, but for goodness’ sake, try to avoid wearing your best, Going Out jeans until you are actually going out!
Love, Caroline
Cover photo: Pulmonaria Diana Clare
