Garden Centre

Friday, January 9, 2009

What to do when you can't garden

If you’re anything like me, you’re struggling to stay garden-positive in this bitter weather. Our pond has to be somewhat defrosted every morning with a pan of warm water (it's more or less frozen again by dusk, which is why I say 'somewhat') and the lawn is beautifully covered in hoar frost, but of course we can’t walk in it or bits of it will end up as brown slime as soon as the thaw arrives.

None of this is encouraging – and when the weather is this nasty there’s almost nothing garden oriented to be done, even if you can bear the low temperatures outside.

I’m cheering myself up by looking back at last year’s summer photographs – it’s not just a nostalgia trip: looking at what worked and what didn’t last year helps me plan the garden better this year. I know that I want more space for ‘love lies bleeding’ for example, but that once again my columbines were really disappointing and I shall have to find something to replace them.

Taking a couple of snaps every week is a good way of keeping track of what you did in the previous year – and at times like these, it reminds you that the sun will reappear one day: honestly it will!

Labels: garden photographs, winter garden

The All Seasons Gardener at 9:39 AM

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