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Time spent planning, vs. working, vs. ENJOYING your garden

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Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    One of the few advantages of being ill for a fairly prolonged time, is that you have to force yourself to sit and look.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I'm with @edhelka on this. I enjoy the planning and researching and like to have a project on the go. I'm finding that as I'm getting older and we have quite a few steps/slopes in our garden, I get a bit out of breath sometimes so have strategic chairs/benches around to have a breather and just enjoy the different parts of the garden.

    @Fire - it sounds as though you need to move for more peace and quiet! Do you need to stay in London?
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • strelitzia32strelitzia32 Posts: 758
    @BenCotto you won't like those sheep quite as much when they stand outside your window, lambs baa'ing constantly to adults through the night from March to June!

    Forget the dawn chorus, I've got the midnight BAAAAAAAHHHH here!
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Lizzie27 said: @Fire - it sounds as though you need to move for more peace and quiet! Do you need to stay in London?

    :Well, yes, I am totally fed up here. A move has been on the cards for a long time. But is not imminent.

    I have been pondering a question for a while to ask on the forum, about the extent to which people here are trying to remake a garden they don't really like or want. I think I'm doing that - trying to force it into a place I want to be. Attempting to do it with grace but really it's covering up frustration.
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    @Fire I would say move if you can. It's hard but so rewarding once it's done. Life is too short to be stuck in a place you don't like. That frustration poisons everything.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    edited July 2020
    @Fire There are definitely advantages to my moderate hearing loss but I think also in our area we mostly  have been 29 for some years.. That noise would drive me crazy 😵 but I envy you what seems to be a vibrant community despite the noise.I

    If you really want to move, you could buy something amazing in the sticks for what you'd get for a London property.
    We're pretty settled here. The only thing that would force a move is bad neighbours .
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • YviestevieYviestevie Posts: 7,066
    I'd say 45:45:10  I sit quite often enjoying a cuppa, watching the pond/wildlife and resting in between jobs but even then I'm usually planning a project or deciding what plants to grow/buy.  I love everything about gardening. I get annoyed at some of the weeds that are trying to take over but that's about it.
    Hi from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
  • IlikeplantsIlikeplants Posts: 894
    BenCotto said:
    Planning and pondering 20% (8/10 on the enjoyment scale)
    Working and weeding 10% (5/10)
    Sitting and savouring 70% (10/10)
    I’d like to be more like this  @B@BenCotto

    I’m planning in my head and through the forum 30%, Working hard 50%, 20% sitting savouring but this has increased during lockdown as I can remote work looking out into the garden but then this turns into planning and pondering. It’s a vicious circle.
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    I would say I like most of us spend little time just sitting in the garden but I do enjoy entertaining out there. Friends and family are invited to sit out there any day the weather allows. 
    I also spend many a happy hour working out there and if I can’t sleep then planning a new area is guaranteed to dispel worries and calm me. It’s a constant work in progress and I would not have it any other way. 
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    I’m with @BenCotto. We are semi retired so have the time to work and relax in the garden. I enjoy working in the garden and worry that we might be running out of projects on our to do list. We can easily spend the morning working and then the afternoon wandering around or sitting in the garden with a glass of wine or a good book. I seem to spend most of my time thinking about gardens, plants and planning my own but if we are counting actively planning (research etc) then I guess the split now would be 20:40:40.  We took over a neglected garden just over four years ago so until fairly recently the split was probably 30:50:20
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
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