Friday, April 10, 2009

Vision and reality

"I want to have a year in the garden this year which is the opposite to 2008. I want to finish the year without feeling like I've bought loads of random plants from plant sales and then come home and stuck them in wherever. I want to feel like I've taken care of what's actually there, and not ached for it all to be totally different. And most of all I want to stop arranging my garden so that it needs more work than I ever have time to do, and ends up feeling like an evil, sulking presence in a corner of my mind."


So says Emma Townshend.

Actually, 2008 was not bad for me. But this spring, I've been worrying about all of the following:

Shouldn't I just root out all the forsythia along the back fence?

Was the akebia a mistake and should I have put in a climbing hydrangea after all (like Martha's, I say longingly)?

I've really got to do something about the front garden, because although it's looking better this spring, it is still nothing but HOLES.

What in the world should I do under the maple tree in front, where the BARE EARTH is showing between the wee patches of mulch?

When will I ever clean up the compost pile so that I could invite a gardener over and not be totally embarrassed?

And so on. I need to calm down and stop aching for it to be totally different.

No comments: