Green Thumb Journey

I have been getting my hands dirty the last couple of weeks. Many bushes have been trimmed, including the forsythia, dogwood, cedar hedge and lilac tree. I have planted tomato plants, pickling cucumbers (seen right), eggplant and relocated sunflowers that self-seeded from last year. Last weekend, I even dug out a whole pile of sod and created a new garden bed. The corner was hard to get at with the lawn mower and I seem to always be behind in edging, so this solved an issue for me. Plus, I am always keen on beautifying my space. Must divide, relocate and flourish! Yes, I am crazy (I think my problem is that I cannot bear to let anything go). Time on my hands? Not overly, but I seem to have a problem; a gardening addiction. I am willing to carry that cross.

So here is the newest garden patch.

Doesn't look like much yet,

but when the black-eyed susans,

lady's mantle and sedge grass settle in

with sunflowers towering in behind

it will be a pretty space.

Here is another project that I undertook a few weeks back. There was a sad holly bush, little more than a few twigs really, that got relocated last fall. It survived the transplant, but was getting buried by grass and weeds. I cut out a quarter-circle and added some heuchuras for comfort. Now it is a simple little space to welcome people at the driveway's edge.

Yesterday, I even struck further afield and went by the girls daycare. They have a patch of garden there that is plenty green, but mostly weed. I did some gardening there last year, that was muchly appreciated. With a barbeque coming up tomorrow, a request was put forth last week for my ministrations again. I gladly got in and got dirty digging out weeds and moving stuff around.  I was not able to totally bring it up to (my definition of) a beautiful flourishing space, but I did add some irises from my house and offered pointers to potential gardeners in residence there. Maybe I am weird, but I really love to see the difference I can make just be giving a little TLC where needed. As I have mentioned before, it is almost like a meditation, but it certainly brings me in touch with Mother Earth. Always a good thing in my books.

   I have not spent all my time in the garden though. We have had so much rain that the ground has been literally soggy at points. They are calling for more rain tonight, so gardening tomorrow will probably be cancelled again. The worst part about that (or probably a blessing) is that I am stuck inside. That usually creates enough of a guilt factor that I end up cleaning. AGHHHHH! Now that project is a never-ending, soul-sucking, task that seems to lack any glory or praise-worthiness. It still needs to be done though. So I will admire my beauties from water-washed windows as I brush dust-bunnies away from their hiding spaces.Somehow it just doesn't feel the same...