Tuesday, June 11, 2013

OUR WORLD and Nature Notes - Just My World This Time


My little world is a work in progress

it is raining and I did not want to soup up the picture quality.

As many of you know over quite a few years I looked after my 
husband who developed Alzheimer's disease.
During that time, with the help of a severe drought, my once
immaculate garden went to rack and ruin, helped along by well 
meaning but illogical help by himself.


Today, I finally had someone to help. He cut the large areas of 
grass with a ride-on mower and set to with a will with a 
brush-cutter as well.

As if by magic, paths came to light and I  no longer was 
soaked to the knees when reading the rain gauge. 


Mowing is like making your bed, a large area looks tidy
and gives one courage 
but masses of hard work remain.

This may not look like much but this patch of rank weeds
is actually three large flower beds, the width of my house.

It will have to wait for two weeks for the next onslaught.

The front/side garden is also better for the mowing, now
I can at least get to the beds to start weeding!


In anticipation of the help, I had already started weeding this 
enormous bed . . mainly to get my broad beans and snow peas
into the lovely moist ground.


A seemingly little patch that I have cleared in a hurry as the 
tulips are already coming up although winter has barely arrived!

It is a monstrously large bed to weed. You may wonder at the 
black plastic garbage bag, with good reason.

Seeds and perennial weeds would go rampant in a compost heap
but in a garbag, left in the sun for 3 months, they turn into 
beautiful, weed free, compost.


Bleeding profusely, I managed to weed under the two roses above,
and with the courage I had gained from having some help,
even planted the Buddleia below and mulched it with 
sheep crutchings.


Maybe next time I will present a more interesting post,
for today, I am too bushed from all the gardening
but
I have had an absolutely lovely time!

Linking with OUR WORLD
and
Nature Notes

31 comments:

  1. An inspirational time. I feel your pain, your exhaustion. I feel your exultation even more strongly. One of the wonderful things about gardening is that by the time things bloom the blood sweat and tears are a distant memory.
    (And some of our tulips are starting to come through here too - though we need more rain. Lots more.)

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    1. Too right EC. It was really hard Yakka balancing between the tulips.

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  2. My goodness Arija, what a busy lady you are, those tidy gardens are tons of work, and I hope you use garden gloves. You are one remarkable lady! I am glad that you had someone to help you and that more will be taken care of soon. In the meantime, enjoy the fruits of your labor and rest too, sip a tea, or lemonade and enjoy~

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    1. Mary, if I had used garden gloves I would have pulled up all the tulips. I like my hands deep in the soil, I like the feel of the earth, just by feeling it you can tell what it needs.

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  3. You're a better weeder than I am. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  4. You did already a great job in your large garden. You must feel very satisfied after the hard work and during a rest enjoy the beauty of the land around you.

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    1. Not much time to sit back and enjoy with all the weeding and pruning 150 rose bushes.

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  5. Wow, looking great. Nice to have some help, plus I know how much you like to work in the garden. Your tulips come up in winter?

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    1. Gaelyn, our tulips were used to come up in spring but the seasons have become so confused that after the long dry summer and autumn, they think that with the rains, spring has come. My crabapple is flowering too and that is the second time running. Climate change is definitely in the air and we all must adapt or perish.

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  6. . . . and a solace for the soul Gwen.

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  7. i am so glad you had mowing help and it gave you the opportunity to get your fingers in the dirt in the place that you love! :)

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  8. Thanks Theresa, you hit the nail on the head.

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  9. I do know how much this means to you and I'm so happy for you -- like coming out of the darkness and into the light! Enjoy every moment, Arija, you deserve it!!

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  10. Thank you Sylvia, yes, there is an emerging glimmer of light.

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  11. That's a lot of land to care for! Gardening is great for the soul!

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  12. I think this is VERY interesting, Arija!
    This looks like a lot of work - and with gardening, a lot of work means a lot to look forward to!

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  13. Oh, I think its wonderful that you were able to get out into the garden that you love and immerse yourself there. I'm glad you've been able to get some help for the heavy lifting. And, best of all, I'm glad you're getting some rain.

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  14. Cannot speak for others, but this was a very interesting post for me! Being on the other side of the world creates a certain amount of horticultural curiosity ;>]] I do so admire your tenacity (do you bottle that by any chance?) and golly, look at that pay-off ... you've made HUGE strides in such a short amount of time.

    Not sure the weed bag idea would work very well in my [much cooler] climate, but the idea is sure tempting.

    HOORAY for our gardens, don't they just bring the best solace to our souls?!

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  15. Gardening may be hard work but it is peaceful and a labor of love. I am sure you and your gardens will be very happy when the weeding is under control. Thanks for sharing, have a happy week!

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  16. Oh I am so happy to read this... This made me smile... Thank you for sharing this with Nature Notes.... Hugs... Michelle

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  17. Wow! You got a lot of work done. Keeping a yard looking good is continual hard work.

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  18. Great job on your gardens. I love the idea of turning weeds into compost so simply.

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  19. Wow, you do have a huge garden. My straw hat is off to you!

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  20. I am so happy you got some good help ... and i'm happy that you had such a great time. and I'm in awe that you found time to post at all, but so grateful you did, as I'm so glad to know this. I will ask my daughter and sil if they know about the garbage bag for compost thing.

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  21. If we could see what you have in mind, I'm sure we'd be impressed, but for now, I admire your ambition and await 'finished' photos!

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