Is it just me, or are you feeling a little overwhelmed these days with your garden chores? I really like having a large garden, but when fall rolls around and everything all the sudden is overgrown and dying, the little OCD monster inside of me starts to flip out just a little {okay, maybe a lot}.
In between bouts of rain, yesterday Lucy the Puggle Dog and I worked on trimming the hedges alongside the house.
We also pulled up all the strawberry runners that had spread into the gravel pathway and trimmed the raspberry canes as well.
The strawberry runners were so prolific this year, I gave a few away to my neighbor Hulda, and then just tossed the rest on to the compost heap because nobody else in the neighborhood wanted any.
I would have re-planted them, but I still have four gutters full of strawberry plants in the greenhouse yet to transplant and I have no idea where I’m going to put those. Yikes!
Here’s what the side yard looked like after we trimmed everything back.
I still need to trim the giant wisteria monster and go through the raspberry patch and clean it up a bit, but for now, I’m just happy I can walk down the garden patch and not feel like it’s one giant mess.
Is it just me, or is your garden chore list seem to be growing each day too?
~Mavis
Elizabeth says
I have a whole section of my front yard that grows beautiful perennials that attract butterflies and bees. I love them. There are also a ton of weeds and I’m trying to tame some bushes in that area. I haven’t been able to because of tons on giant bees. Now that the bees are leaving the area I have an entire section of the yard I get to address now. Also leaves leaves and more leaves…they’ve started to fall
Amy says
Yes! It seems like every thing I do out in the garden creates a dozen more things to do! Plus I am still trying to get my fall perennials planted and continue harvesting and putting up the herbs and veggies I still have actively growing. It really does seem to be never ending…but what would I do if I didn’t have it to do? lol
Wynne says
That’s my list too, especially the herbs.
Katie @ Life Lived Intentionally says
It looks so tidy now! Yes, it feels like the chores list is never ending. My husband is building some garden beds so I can plant garlic (your tutorial in this morning’s Mornings was exactly what I needed, btw. Thanks!) and some other things. In order to do that, though, I’ve been clearing out the squash plants, little bits of this and that plant, weeding (!!!), and trying to decide how much longer I’m going to leave my tomatoes in. They’re a total mess and it’s so much chillier at night. It feels so good to work in the garden, though. It’s totally worth it!
Diane says
Oh, yes – it NEVER ends! I’m drying shelling bean pods in the greenhouse because it’s getting too wet and cool here in Portland to dry them on the vines. I’m looking at a “green tomato relish” year for the same reason – tons of tomatoes still on the vine, and I don’t know how many of them will ripen before the nights just get too cold. Seed garlic will be arriving soon, and I need to sow crimson clover in the in-ground beds. I have to plant a redtwig dogwood I must have bought a month ago, and there are shelves to put up in the new “root cellar” my husband built in the crawl space under the house, and, and…
Even during the months when the garden is asleep, there’s planning for next season: how I’m going to rotate crops and maximize the sun in our shade-spotted yard, when to start seeds indoors, and all that. Still, I love it and can’t wait to see what flourishes (and doesn’t) in next year’s garden. Gardening keeps me connected to the earth and, as Katie said, it’s totally worth all the work!
maile says
I hear you! The Husband and I just cleared out little garden today. He tood 4 yards of debris to the composting center. Still have so much more to do…..
portia says
I’ve been working out in my garden all morning! It is a lot of work!