The ADD Gardener

So today I went with my lovely neighbor Johanna to get some bare root plants. Picked up some spring bulbs and three lilacs, three currents, three blueberry and one pee gee hydrangea. Now the bed has been prepared for the blueberries and currents since last year so they are ready to pop in. The other plants are just impulse buys. Especially the hydrangea as it was only $5 so I bought it but really have no place for it. I take them all home and start working in the bed for the blueberries and currents. Then I realize I have to soak the plants for 24 hours and it will only take minutes to plant them after they soak. I put the plants to soak and then I grab the kids and haul them in the back yard to prepare a bed for the lilacs. At this point I have no idea where to put the hydrangea bush. I start digging a bed around the old lilac, thinking that the new lilacs would fill in around it nicely. But the problem is that the area is all grass. I get a few shovelfuls of dirt out and decide there is no way I'd ever dig that all up. Plan B. Dig up an old flower bed that has grown over from the last owner. It's a big yard there's lots of space. So I start digging up the old bed and it is over grown with volunteer trees and Sarina is whining so I decide to go in the front and let her play before lunch and nap. I"ll finish during nap, right. Right! Back to the front for some play but Sarina immediately runs to the side yard. I follow and low and behold there is tons of weeding to do so I commence weeding. I weed and weed until the child begins to whine again and wants to go in the front. Back to the front we go for a short playtime. Then in for lunch and nap.

Child down for nap and out I go with my cutters and saw in hand. I get outside and notice the hill needs weeding and some trees need to be cut back. I begin to weed. I then think that there may be some cone flowers coming up in the other bed that I want to transfer here. I think about checking on them and digging those up. I remember I need to have a place to plant them and continue to weed. As I weed I think that I should be working in the other bed. I decide to start chopping things down. Is the weeding done on the hill you ask. NO. So I go to the old bed that will be the new bed and start chopping away. I cut down all the trees except the largest. I feel very satisfied and tired. I think to myself I should blog about this. I go in the house and begin to blog.

I have to admit I have always been more of a theoretical rather then an applied gardener. I love to think about gardening. I like to buy the plants. I don't mind digging a simple hole. I do not like to dig up new garden beds or weed endlessly as my yard is a weed attractor for some reason. I hate to weed because I hate crouching down or even kneeling for long periods of time. In Nepal people would sit on their haunches for hours. Literally hours. Two men were re-tiling by the pool area and day after day they squatted and tiled. They even squatted and ate their lunch. It was amazing although just watching them made my legs hurt. I cannot not squat for more than a minute. Just don't have the right stuff for that.

Later

So I'm blogging away and Ben wakes up Sarina. Everyday he insists on checking on her and then runnning down the stairs declaring her to be awake. He so hates that she naps and he has no one to play with. So I put her back to sleep and Ben and I go out for more weeding on the hill. I'm sure my back and legs will hurt tomorrow. Haven't checked on those coneflowers yet but I think I will put the pee gee hydrangea by the lilacs. Must get that child up now before she sleeps too late and won't sleep tonight.

Still Later

More weeding on the hill and I found that 5 coneflower plants have come up which can be transplanted to the hill. Once I actually finish weeding it that is.