I find I cannot just sit in my garden on my own,I always see something that needs to be done.If I have someone with me it is much easier. As I get older (though not yet in my dotage!) I am trying to simplify the garden so I can still work in it but also give me time to sit for a bit. Greatly reduced the amount of pots (less to water,re-pot or indeed fall over!),hanging baskets and annuals are mainly out as too much faffing in the spring. Gradually aiming for a garden that I can 'potter' in a little each day without it all getting too much.
“Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
Depends on what point of the year we're at. If it's March to May, that's prime sowing, growing, working season for me (especially as I do a lot of veg, my sowing starts in Feb). Right now in July and August, this is relaxing time - apart from a bit of maintenance, harvesting, deadheading etc, it's time to sit back and enjoy the hard work as the garden evolves. Then it'll be back to work for bulb time and winter prep when we hit Autumn.
But yes, every time I sit down I also spot the 300 jobs I forgot about!
My brain is usually planning something whether it be how to get what I want in the garden, what order to do things in, how to get OH on side, organising the house (been here nearly 4 years now and still have rooms to decorate) and mulling over projects for patchwork club and mosaic class. I have some of my best ideas while doing something completely different.
Then there's the doing which is weather dependent. It's hot and dry at the mo so we tend to play outside till lunchtime doing our own different jobs but actually sitting in the shade to stop for coffee is a recent development and very enjoyable. Then we retreat to the shade till about 5pm. This is the first year we've really sat but it's only half an hour in a day. The doing is a different way of enjoying the garden as is a good shower and dinner after getting really mucky and hungry.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I never think of sitting just relaxing in my garden, except occasionally with visitors. Eating out, insects fall in your drink and try to eat your food. Reading, breeze keeps turning the pages. If I'm out there, I'm working. I prefer working on projects, making changes, to the never-ending housekeeping of weeding and dead-heading, so my garden is never much to look at. Best of all I enjoy composting and harvesting.
Hard? You’re joking. Morning coffee on the terrace. A wander round the garden to see what’s newly in bloom then sit by the pond and count newts. Not allowed to move on until I have seen twelve but, when I reach eleven, I inevitably fear I have double counted so I am obliged to start again. Then onwards up to the top of the garden and, as it’s on a slope, a rest is obligatory so I sit up there doing nothing but look across the valley and watch the sheep.
Lunch, then a rest, and back to the terrace for a cup of tea in the afternoon. If it’s chilly then the summerhouse comes into its own. It doesn’t take long for the sun to emerge over the yardarm so it’s time for a glass or two of wine. On warm evenings we can be out a long time until the bats are swooping - dinner just gets pushed back, very Mediterranean.
When Covid is not curtailing our plans there are often friends round for a full afternoon tea, drinks or a meal taken al fresco. It’s a good life.
People often say that, in retirement, they have never been so busy. Not me. I like to alternate between sod all and bugger all days. Seven day weekends are a joy. Every day we thank God for our blessed life.
I don't sit and enjoy mine because most of the time after May is it like Glastonbury festival - with three sound systems competing, five families having lunch, eight kids screeching, one drunk man telling at the top of his lungs about how awful his life is, helicopters, sirens and a partridge in a pear tree (not).
When people say "my garden is like another room in the house" families in our area mean it literally. They barely go inside from May to September; or only to sleep. I have come to think of our adjoined terrace gardens as one big commual garden and soundspace, as that is essentially what they are - 100 small gardens running back to back. Indeed some people have removed their fences between as it's easier. I'm glad people enjoy their patches so much, but haven of calm reflection it is not.
The planning/researching part is my favourite, I enjoy it a lot. I wouldn't mind having a new blank canvas every 2-3 years. I love garden design and creating something. But I also love watching it to develop so I couldn't do it as a job, design something and them leave and never see it again.
I enjoy the work if it is creative work (building, planting). I don't enjoy maintenance (weeding, keeping tidy). I don't mind watering.
While I enjoy being outside, I can't just sit and do nothing. Maybe for 5 minutes with a cup of tea or coffee but not on its own. But I like going around the garden and checking every new bloom and how the plants are doing. Does this count as enjoying? I also like taking photos.
Posts
As I get older (though not yet in my dotage!) I am trying to simplify the garden so I can still work in it but also give me time to sit for a bit.
Greatly reduced the amount of pots (less to water,re-pot or indeed fall over!),hanging baskets and annuals are mainly out as too much faffing in the spring.
Gradually aiming for a garden that I can 'potter' in a little each day without it all getting too much.
But yes, every time I sit down I also spot the 300 jobs I forgot about!
Then there's the doing which is weather dependent. It's hot and dry at the mo so we tend to play outside till lunchtime doing our own different jobs but actually sitting in the shade to stop for coffee is a recent development and very enjoyable. Then we retreat to the shade till about 5pm. This is the first year we've really sat but it's only half an hour in a day. The doing is a different way of enjoying the garden as is a good shower and dinner after getting really mucky and hungry.
Lunch, then a rest, and back to the terrace for a cup of tea in the afternoon. If it’s chilly then the summerhouse comes into its own. It doesn’t take long for the sun to emerge over the yardarm so it’s time for a glass or two of wine. On warm evenings we can be out a long time until the bats are swooping - dinner just gets pushed back, very Mediterranean.
When Covid is not curtailing our plans there are often friends round for a full afternoon tea, drinks or a meal taken al fresco. It’s a good life.
People often say that, in retirement, they have never been so busy. Not me. I like to alternate between sod all and bugger all days. Seven day weekends are a joy. Every day we thank God for our blessed life.