Pages

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Do You Share That Love/Hate Relationship ?

Today .. or should I say this morning around 7AM ... it started.
The dreaded "watering mission" for the garden .. and it is never just watering , it is trimming up, brainstorming, kicking myself for bad planting positions ... well, it goes on and on and on.
By the time I got back in the house it was after 2 PM ..
I was drained .. and for me drained can be dangerous .. so two bottles of electrolyte drinks plus water.
I felt like the human container for a lake.
AND ? ..... I was so discouraged ... I had to face facts about how much I am able to do in the garden and worst of all, for the coming years ??
Yes, I had to look down that long or not so long, winding road of garden "can and can't do any more" list.
Decisions had to be made ... a major one was that the vines on each end of the deck lattice walls had to be gotten rid of ... just too much work .. plus the timing was right because the deck has to be coated with a protective stain to keep it up and running.

Pretty picture insert time

Discouraged can't even begin to describe how I felt .. how can you love and hate gardening with so much passion ?
I waited so long to have the gardens begin to mature .. I waited for the water feature which was again one that we could handle .. no pond .. no raccoons .. no problems associated with the dreaded little beasts that we suffered through three years of them using us as a bed & breakfast stop.

Pretty picture insert time
All the research I did to collect plants I really wanted and loved.
This cone flower reminds me of a geisha holding her fan up to her face.
Creating a shade border by way of a gorgeous Pacific Sunset Maple that got a lot larger than the research said it would ... but shade it DID provide and thus a shade garden which I love.
Pretty picture insert time is taking over the more I stress over how I feel about my garden.
I love my new echinacea and ? it has loads of buds opening up ... blooming it's little booty off as if some how it knows what I am going through ?
I don't know what the future holds .. who does ? .. but there seems to be an urgency with the garden and I collaborating some how to make it easier on me so I can keep as much as possible of it to love even with a little hate peppered in with the mix.
It tries hard to give me what I want ... I try VERY hard to give it what it needs .. how can such a "giving" relationship be bad ?
It gets bad closer to the end of the season when I am worn and weary and the garden is also worn and weary .. you don't see the bad parts because I just can't bring myself to post pictures of them ?
How funny is that ? stubborn pride not to show my garden in a bad light, yet here I am complaining of the work it demands of me.
Maybe ... it is because other life forms depend on what I have created here now ... from bees to birds ?
I just don't know ... I'm too tired, too sore, and too confused to decide ..
So I guess I will just keep going for as long as I can.

6 comments:

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

Your garden is lovely and so are your photographs! Is the bright pink flower the echinacha or the purple one? They are both pretty.

I got very sick from the heat a few weeks ago for the first time in my life. Since then I have had two more times of it happening. I bought a wide brimmed, Gone with the Wind looking hat to shield my face and head from the sun and I now have to be careful not to get too hot. I find that I lose track of time while puttering. I go from one thing to another while I am out there in the garden, just as you do. Now I am going to have be a little more careful with the heat and sun.

I am starting to look for more perennials to plant in place of the annuals. I enjoyed seeing your garden.

Balisha said...

This is like a rerun of my life in the garden. There comes a time when we have to slow down. I had to start doing that several years ago. My gardens are pretty manageable now...not quite the beautiful place I wanted...but sufficient to make me happy.You have to start somewhere and finding the places that take the most energy are the ones to start with. Mine was the woods border. I had to do away with keeping that up. It bothered me greatly in the past, but now I can live with it. Also more container gardening and putting them near water sources.Few annuals are in my garden now. These are just a couple of things that I changed. You can make changes and still be happy with the outcome.
This is the time of year when we are all getting tired of the work and look forward to the colder months ahead.....but as soon as the weather breaks we start getting that urge to do it all again...only next year make it a little easier.
Balisha

Leslie's Garden said...

Oh Joy! I know just what you mean. I have never gotten my garden to a satisfactory place. Every year is different. I am trying to incorporate more perennials, so I bought a phlox last year, and actually PLANTED it! I was so proud of myself. Well, it didn't grow this year...it stayed a puny little thing. I guess it was too shaded by a day lily - which also didn't bloom. Age wise - I've had to shut down my heavy shade garden because I just couldn't take care of it. So sad! This year the whole garden was a bust. I've often thought of trees I would like to plant, but can't see myself waiting 10 years (I'll be 69) for it to start looking good. Sigh. I guess it is what it is:(

RURAL said...

Joy......sigh. I could have written that post this morning...I so sympathize with you. It's hot, and it's hard, and it's hot...it seems like never ending not enough water everywhere you look.

But you have it right, there are so many creatures depending upon you to create a haven for them..don't be discouraged..your garden is lovely. And if it means that you just look at the pretty spots, then just do that. That's the stage I am at right now...see only the beautiful..not the dead, fried, eaten, hailed on leaves.

It works for now.

Jen

RobinL said...

I have already begun the transition to an easier garden. My knees and back are already shot, and gardening is just starting to get harder on me. I can't go for hour upon hour anymore, and I'm "only" 55! I intend to garden for a good many years yet, so I am slowly banishing the neediest plants, and replacing them with easy cares. I try not to think too hard about what lies ahead, because it might not be pretty!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thank you so much Susie : )
The Pink is the echinacea .. the purple is from the butterfly bush.
YES ! puttering and losing track of time is my huge fault ?
My garden is mainly perennials , but when it is too dry they suffer as well, so watering is a huge issue .. but I love my garden, so I drive myself too hard .. no getting away from it.

Hello Balish girl : )
YES !! .. cutting out the things that drain our energy and that is what I am doing now .. slowly but surely!
I know you are right .. changes come and go .. and we have to make the right choices for our own good!
I so love Autumn .. it is my favorite time of year .. looking forward to that like crazy .. and yes putting the garden to bed .. but as soon as Christmas is over I start feeling that urge too .. it is our natural instinct as gardeners isn't it ? LOL

leslie girl .. yes, every year is truly different no matter how much we plan .. what about some really nice shrubs ? .. they are breedling wonderful smaller ones since so many gardens are much smaller now .. I planted two lilac shrubs that are small and supposed to be reblooming .. one blue and one pink .. so I am hoping they will be pretty. Spirea is a pretty shrub in so many different cultivars .. Flaming Mound is very pretty .. try finding some shrubs you will like?

Jen girl I know you are right ... I should be out there this morning .. it isn't too hot and it is sunny .. so that is a miracle!! haha
But here I am on my computer just playing around .. I am naughty!LOL

Hello Robin girl!
I am a year older than you girl and I so know what you mean .. the knees and back are a mess .. but that urge to play in the garden is hard to control. Making it easier with easier plants is truly the plan I am trying to follow .. we are all in the same boat as "baby boomers" ? haha