I remember about four to five years ago when we first got our own place, it had a tiny little patch of garden area, and one day on a random visit to a garden centre, I decided I was going to fill it with all the pretty and colourful flowers I could grab. Well grab them I did, I had no clue what I was grabbing, just anything bright and attractive, I didn’t even realise they had information on the little labels, other than the plant name… Off home I went with my huge plant haul, thinking I was Alan Titchmarsh. I planted them all out in our little patch of soil that we had – and then poured that much water on them (literally buckets full), all the soil baked and solidified in the sun; and don’t even get me started on compost… I didn’t give it a second thought, I just thought it was the same as soil – and we already had soil.
Needless to say, all plants died; that is, all but one! A lavender plant – a hardy perennial which thrived in the crappy soil it had been homed in. Hardy and perennial weren’t words I was acquainted with back then, but that lavender survival really made me feel inspired and quite proud of myself, especially as it just kept getting bigger and bigger – in reality, it wasn’t really anything to do with me, it was a stroke of luck I’d ended up planting it in poor soil and a full sun spot; but still, my interest in garden plants had been sparked.
Fast forward a few years and we were lucky enough to purchase our own house, that came with a much bigger garden, than my little patch of death soil. Again, I went and did a supermarket sweep at the garden centre grabbing anything that caught my eye; and still not reading any labels or considering compost. Off home I trotted, and planted hundreds of pounds worth of plants straight. into. the. grass. I even remember my boyfriend asking why I had spent so much money, because I “just kill them all”, and yep, again – the majority died.
But not all of them, because I had planted more, by luck, a few more actually survived and thrived due to the soil and location being right for them (another happy accident) – and my inspiration and interest grew even more. I won’t go on and on, but the plants that died and the plants that thrived perplexed me, and so I started to google the plant types, I started to learn about the importance of compost, feeding, annuals, perennials, biennials, secateurs, hardiness, drainage, different garden tools, common garden pests, horticultural grit, not over watering, correct position and light placing – and as I replaced the ones I’d lost; with a bit more consideration, more and more started thriving.
Basically, that’s how I learnt to keep my garden alive; to put it bluntly, by killing everything. Does everything I plant now survive? No, and it never will – that’s how it is, and that’s part of the interest and fun in gardening – but it’s alot fewer and far between now I know what to purchase for the sun my garden gets, and the type of soil my garden has. I even aerated my lawn last week – who do I think I am now?!
As with that first lavender plant that thrived, the more that grew, the more inspired I was – and the more care I took with them, even learning seasonal jobs that were required to prepare the garden for winter and spring. Then the 2020 lockdowns happened, and with not much else to do but the garden, my love and interest just grew and grew. I’ve even started growing food in the garden this year, at the moment I have wild garlic on the go (it smells AMAZING), I’ve just planted some seed potatoes, I’ve got two strawberry plants, which seem to be loving all this rain at the moment, an array of herbs… I even have peanut plants on the go! And next week I’m planting pumpkins (when the raised bed I ordered arrives) and some purple sprouting broccoli.
I love nothing more than on an evening, about 7.30 – 8pm ish, when the day is just starting to settle down for the evening, and its still light and a little warm, going out into the garden and pottering about – deadheading, checking new plants are doing well, and tidying things up that need to be pruned – I find it so relaxing and enjoyable; and there’s just something about gardening as a whole that makes me feel really grounded and calm. Planting seeds during lockdown almost felt like planting hope, and when those seeds begin to emerge, you feel so proud! (I bet all the people who have raised actual human children are massively eye rolling right now).
I hope you’ve found this post interesting, and maybe even a little inspiring. I know it’s not everyones cup of tea, but personally I absolutely love seeing pictures of other peoples lovely gardens. As sad as it sounds, one of my favourite things ever to do at the moment, is settle down at 9pm on a Friday evening and watch the latest Gardeners World – I’ve even binge watched the last 2 series, and there are a lot of episodes – but again, it’s another way that I’ve learnt so much. I know that perhaps when life returns to full normality, I maybe won’t have time to do as much binge watching of Gardeners World – but I know that my love of gardening won’t wane, due to the sheer amount of joy it has brought me, especially in the past 12 months. I really can’t wait to watch everything fully bloom out and grow this year! Oh, and… if you were at all wondering, my garden is now packed full of lots and lots of lavender – funnily enough, it’s my favourite plant to grow 😉
