Gardening is tough over the hot summer months. When spring first breaks and you can’t wait for the ground to warm enough to start planting, that’s the romance of the garden. Then the dirt is ready, the plants go in, and trouble begins.
Six weeks later, you’re sweating buckets and cursing yourself for not using enough mulch to keep out all the weeds. And if anyone knows how much is “enough mulch to keep out weeds,” please let me in on that little secret, would ya?
Along with the heat and the weeding comes drought. A couple years back, we had the worst drought season I’d ever seen. No watering allowed without special permits. Neighbors were watching each other like hawks, and a fresh green lawn stood out like a sore thumb, inviting derision and ticketing. This year looks like nothing that drastic, but it’s a chore to drag the hoses out every other day, watering deeply enough to encourage root growth while not encouraging water run-off.
Or maybe watering isn’t your problem, but too much sun. Or too much shade. Or too little fertilizer, or fertilizer burn.
Basically, as soon as things really begin to grow, that’s when it all goes sideways for me. My hostas are not big enough (need to move them from the deeper shade to the dappled shade). The daylilies aren’t in enough sun, though some that are in full sun have burnt and stopped blooming. The hydrangea is sulky in too much sun and needs an extra can of water daily. The bleeding heart didn’t do as well as I would have liked, but do I move their locations due to lighting or do I not give them as much water when they stretch out again in fall? Who knows?
It’s all a guessing game, isn’t it? Because all the research you do, from the notations on the seed packets, on the plant stakes, on the little internet doesn’t begin to cover what happens in your own yard or garden. Four hours of sun is very different depending on what time of day that sunlight is hitting the plant. For my vintage yellow tomatoes in the front garden, it’s either way too much heat from the sun, or not enough light from it. They’re so small and sulky, I can’t even tell why they’re not growing, only that they’re not.
The pansies are frying too close to the driveway, but if I give them enough water, I think they’ll hang tight there, producing through fall. Though, I have to wonder if I moved them back closer to the sheltering bushes, would they do even better, with less water? I bet they would and I may just move them come September, if they can hang tight that long.
Again, it’s all a game, one you play by moving those plants and tending them until they find their proper homes. But once they are settled and happy, imagine the happy blooms you’ll have. And it’s that holy grail that keeps me imagining and planning and guessing.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This sounds like a REAL lot of work. Now I remember why it is I don’t garden. Plus I am terrible at it.
Sounds like you are doing a great job though.
I read your comment on The Pioneer Woman and thought I would stop by. Have a great day.
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!