Avant Gardener: A gardener's resolutions for a new year

  • By Kyle Valentini
  • December 28, 2011
  • 286
                        
Summary: A new year brings with it the hope and promise of a bountiful garden full of delicious and nutritious fruits, vegetables and herbs, a colorful array of flowers that will attract the most discriminating pollinators and a work load that requires dedication in all kinds of weather. Make a list of garden resolutions to get ready for task. It’s 2012, really? Isn’t that the future? Like many things that come with age, acceptance is a part of life’s journey. We simply learn to accept the things we cannot change, like getting older. At least we get wiser, right? The New Year brings promises of hope and renewal. It also brings promises of a boat load of work in the garden, especially since I still have weeds growing in last year’s garden. Winter doesn’t want to become winter in Ohio and weeds are still growing. I’m not much for resolutions but I have been thinking about the ways I can make the garden more enjoyable and productive this year. I have come up with a list of resolutions that I may or may not be able to meet. I’ll give it my best shot as I remember how beautiful the garden is because I make it so. 1. I resolve to increase the size of the garden. I typically hold the less-is-more attitude in life and gardening but I think it is finally time to think big, or at least bigger. I have too much grass and I should be growing more food and more flowers. 2. I resolve to outsmart the deer, skunks, moles, groundhogs, possums and other critters that eat from the garden without weeding, watering or nurturing it. I will make an exception for my husband because he does other things around the yard with little or no complaint. 3. I resolve to keep up with the weeds. I say this every year. 4. I resolve to cut down the cherry tree that I have been trying to save for three years. It’s ugly. It will never be beautiful and it has to go. 5. I resolve to stop growing the cute, little, yellow grape tomatoes just because they are cute, little and yellow. They taste lousy. 6. I resolve to succession plant. I start out with the intention but I end up wanting to fill every space of the garden all at once so it will look pretty. Dumb idea. I end up with everything coming ripe at once and I can’t use it or preserve it fast enough. 7. I resolve to plant oregano in pots only. Oregano, like mint, will take over in the garden if left unchecked. I let it go to seed one year and now it is everywhere with a deep and complex root system that may require heavy equipment to remove. 8. I resolve to divide the perennials. It’s amazing how quickly some ornamental grasses can become so large. If I can’t find sunny spots for them in my own yard I will give them away. Perennials are meant to be shared. 9. I resolve to start more seeds. I never have much luck with seed starting because I don’t have enough natural light indoors. Even though the artificial lights are ugly and take up too much space, I’m bound and determined to try some new varieties unavailable at local garden centers. My cats have a tendency to destroy the new seedlings before they even get their first true leaves. The cats must be outsmarted. 10. I resolve to love the garden even if it is not perfect. A true gardener is a lover of the garden not a critic.


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