Garden Harder, Not Smarter
I was horrified.
It's easy to horrify me. Newspapers and TV news succeed
daily. I expect it.
What I didn't expect was to read a gardening
newsletter today and find feelings of horror reawakened. An article
titled “Garden Smarter, not Harder,” was reprinted from another
newsletter, so clearly more than one person liked it. Perhaps you've
read many of these listings of clever ways to do things quickly and
without effort. In no time at all you're on the coach, feeling that
you've earned the next three hours of beer, chips and TV golf.
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| You want to work smarter in the garden? Use a computer! |
No, no, NO! If I listed below all the articles
in magazines and newspapers, as well as self-help books explaining
the value of exercise, the internet would be full and shut down. OK,
if you argue that shut down's a good thing, I'll listen.
There are so many studies showing our life span
extending with more exercise, as well as our health span, there is
hardly an argument against activity.
I remember a very old joke: “I get my exercise going
to the funerals of my friends who exercise.” Well, at least the
jokester is getting some exercise.
Running and walking are still the best, most
time-efficient exercises.
Don't use a wheelbarrow to carry sticks to the compost
pile. Make two trips and carry them in your arms. The walking is a
credit toward your future. Carrying the wheelbarrow, is even better.
A riding mower? Seriously? A gardener shouldn't have
masses of grasses. Turn the area into a large patch of azaleas and
hosta. Year-by-year, shrink the grassy areas until they're just paths
through your garden beds. Then a push-mower will be fine. Don't push
me or I'll go on about how a push-mower still beats a riding mower:
muscle exercise of calves, thighs, glutes, pecs, forearms. Good for
the heart, lungs, digestive system. You'll sleep better, too.
When age and prior injuries make it difficult to do
something, do it anyway, but slower. Dig that hole with a trowel, not
a shovel. With a spoon, not a trowel. Whatever you can manage. You're
not late for anything when you're gardening; you're involved; in the
moment.
A garden is never done. That's the fallacy of a
landscape architect. The entrepreneur struts in, creates a garden
with a pile of hardscape, patio furniture and plants from a big box
store, then walks away with a check in her purse. Done.
No, no, NO! A gardener's garden is never
finished. Improve the soil in the beds. Replace a good plant with a
better one. Move one that doesn't look so good over there to a place
by the ferns. Trim a couple of branches to let in more light. Prune
some bushes to make them appear more dense. (But, if you make them
look like gumballs, I'm coming after you. I know where you live.)
Skip the power equipment. If cutting up the fallen
branch with a hand saw takes three days instead of one, OK.
Planning a new bed, digging the hole, mixing the soil
for it, planting, mulching, and watering the new arrivals may take
months. OK. But, do it by hand.
Don't forget to invite me over to see the results. I'm
waiting, camera in hand, and I won't be horrified!
