I Do It In My Wellies (Gardening)

Member Name: BizzyB

Product:	Gardening
Date:	11/02/02 (290 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Relaxing, Rewarding, Enjoyable

Disadvantages: Can get expensive, Addictable, Fustrating at times

It has been a while since I have written about gardening on dooyoo and I was pleased to find this section where I could talk about gardening as a hobby.

Whether you're an avid, mildly keen or beginner gardener I'm sure you'll identify with some of the things I think about this great hobby but even if the thought of soil makes your stomach turn I hope you'll read on because you probably know someone who is greenfingered and the great advantage of this is you need never be stuck for buying presents again so I'll do my guide to gardening gifts at the end.

So how did I start gardening?
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It was about eight years ago, our back garden was nothing special, a bog standard lawn with an uninspired border and a green house with more cracks than a male strip troupe. Having been taken ill mainly with exhaustion and anxiety I found myself at home, suffering panic attacks and generally feeling the worse for wear. In those dark days even stepping foot out of my own door could induce huge pangs of fear. Every day I would go out and potter around the garden to take my mind off the fear and soon I found I was out there for hours feeling relaxed. It was very cathartic just to weed and dead head plants and see an improved look at the end of it.

I begin watching Gardeners World, which in those days was presented by Geoff Hamilton who sadly died a few years ago. He was the most marvelous and inspiring gardener. He dispelled the myth I held that gardening was boring, complicated and fuddy duddy. With the aide of some gardening books and magazines I started to put some of those ideas into practice, totally redesigning both the back and front garden. As I was doing this I became friends with a retired man down the road who was a superb gardener and within weeks I knew all the retired gardeners in the neighbourhood as we swapped advice, plants and seeds. From a person with exhaustion and pani
c attacks it wasn't unusual to see walking our neighbourhood with a twig in hand as I went to the wiser gardeners to find out if my shrubs have blackspot!

The next step that really clinched the addiction was when I grew tomatoes. Nothing exciting, just four tomato plants in some grow bags. The crop was huge and the satisfaction of having grown something we could eat was unbelievable and so courgettes, lettuces, peppers, potatoes followed. That was it, I was officially green fingered.

The years have passed and we have moved, and I still miss my gardening neighbours! I've moved to an area where I seemed to be the only garden addict and I was overjoyed to take on the most overgrown and neglected garden in the street. I've had such a wonderful time redesigning the garden and now it seems to be my turn to be the 'wise' gardener of the neighbourhood. Neighbours came round and asked my advice, and I was gobsmacked as I passed the garden legacy on. Now summer days are great fun as we run out of each others gardens swapping plants, taking cuttings and rounding it all off with a bar-b-q and a glass or five of wine.

The greatest thrill has been the comments I've received for my front garden which I designed as a gravel garden with large stones and very structural plants in greens and purples. It took the best part of a year and a lot of legwork. People would stop and talk as I was doing it and once finished passers-by would compliment me on it, some even coming to knock on the door just to say how nice they thought it was! This week there was a knock at the door from someone who was looking for the home of the local garden services; they knew he lived in our cul-de-sac but didn't know the number, saw my garden and thought I must be him!!

I adore gardening. I find it relaxing, rewarding and enjoyable. I like having the focus of planning ahead and then enjoying the finished product whether it be the
fruit and vegs or having a vibrant flower display.


Gardening is flexible
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Ignore gardening make over programmes. To have a nice garden and enjoy it, it does not have to be 50ft x 75ft, have a lawn, decking, gravel, water feature and a fence painted blue. Garden how you want to garden whether that be a modern look or traditional. Hate manicured lawns and topiary? Then look to wild flower meadows for inspiration. Flower gardening, vegetable gardening, no plant gardening!! Yes no plant. If you want your garden to be structural and hard landscaped then go for it. Never let fashion dictate to you in the garden. And always think of your garden as your outside room, an extension to your house.

And if you don't have the 'traditional' garden space don't be put off. Yard areas can come alive with containers, in fact container gardening is one of my favourite types. Containers and hanging baskets don't need to be a mass of straggly lobelia and pansies. Structural plants like grasses and cordylines can make fantastic, eye catching displays. Or grow vegetables and herbs - cherry tomatoes, patio carrots, mixed lettuce leaves need a tiny amount of space - window boxes, hanging baskets etc. Even a pot of parsley of the kitchen window sill can satisfying.

Gardening is sociable
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As you'll gathered I met most of my neighbours through gardening and I soon found it spans the generations from tiny tots to retired grandparents. Gardening is a great mix of time - let me explain. The wisdom and experience of the past gardener, the here and now covers all gardeners and the future planning of the new gardener.

Many areas have local gardening groups which are a great place to meet like minded people, swap advice and plants - swapping plants and seeds is not only gives you a great feeling of recycling and helping out mother nature, it saves m
oney!

Gardening Needn't Be Expensive
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Gardening can bankrupt you if you let it! If I have a bag of money I could soon be parted from it in a garden centre. I could go over the top with plants, gardening gadgets and equipment, not to mentions all varieties of ornaments and extras. But don't feel you can't garden because you can't afford the best pergola or set of shears. As I've said before sharing with other gardeners is a great way to reduce the cost but another virtue of the budget gardener is patience. If you have the patience to buy the smaller plants and seeds and let them grow you will be rewarded. I bought a cordyline from Wilkinsons three years ago. Now most cordylines that are already quite big can set you back a tenner or more. This one was sad wreck with three leaves and cost me £1.19. Today it is five foot tall, I should think over 50 leaves and a girth that is more than a handspan!

Gardening is Good For You
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A days digging and working in the garden has been shown to be better for you than a session in the gym - and it's free! Gardening gets you out into the fresh air and gets the whole body stretching and often aerobic workouts too. As with any exercise warm up first - something people forget when gardening. There's no point rushing out and going straight for the spade - you will do yourself more harm than good!

And it isn't only physically that gardening has been shown to be good for you. Mentally gardening's proves to be relaxing and can bring help such things as depression, anxiety and stress. I think this is because you can become so involved in what you are doing it frees the mind and there's a great sense of achievement at the end of it.

Gardening Gets You Out and About.
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Gardening isn't about being stuck in y
our own garden. Before you know it your trying to fit in the time to garden as you gallivant here, there and everywhere.

Garden centres are the haven of gardeners and what's more the modern day garden centre caters for all, not just the greenfingered. As well as stocking plants and gardening equipment many know have craft sections, cafes, displays so they become a day out in themselves.

Open Gardens - there's nothing greater than nosing around other people's gardens whether it be a modest backgarden in the suburbs or the estate of a stately home. Many everyday gardens are opened up for a day or even longer to raise money for charities across the country. National Trust properties often pride themselves as much on their gardens as the buildings; all these places can be a great day out and an inspiration. And don't think you have to stop in your own county or even country! Before you know it you are planning a weekend to Cornwall to visit the Eden Project and Lost Gardens of Heligan, or to London to Kew and the parks. Next your grabbing the passport as you head off to Madeira, or the classical Italian gardens, maybe the New England gardens of America or the lush Caribbean gardens.

Gardening shows and events are another must on the calendar. Whether you visit the traditional Chelsea Flower Show or the more informal Gardener's World Live just remember - comfy shoes and a limit on the credit card!

Okay, okay, you still don't want to garden but you know someone who does. Well here's the good news, you need never be stuck buying a present again! And I don't just mean t-shirts with 'Dirty Hoe' on them or 'Head Gardener' mugs!

Whether for a birthday, anniversary or Christmas you can make a gardening gift fit any budget. You may buy a specific item the person has requested but my top tip is a gardener's hamper which you can put together yourself, they'll love the
gift and it really looks like you've put the effort and thought into it. Here's some ideas:

Budget Hamper - buy a flower pot, any size, colour and fill it with gardening related items. How about choosing from packets of seeds, bulbs, plant labels, hand cream and soap, small tools such as penknife or a dibber.

Keepsake Hamper - buy what's called a trug - a gardeners basket. To fill choose from secateurs, hand fork and trowel, seeds, small plant (such as a rose, many of which are named for occasions such as ruby wedding etc), keepsake gardeners book, twine holder and twine, gloves, plant labels, pot stands.

Big Hamper - great for someone moving to their first garden. Fill a wheelbarrow with spade, fork, hoe, shears, watering can, pots, gloves, secateurs, wellies, seed trays, seeds, bulbs - whatever!

Events hamper - this is a great way to dress up a special gift. Why not buy a gardener tickets to a garden, gardening event, or maybe membership to the National Trust or RHS? Put the tickets in a plant pot or maybe a picnic hamper with a travel rug. This makes a great present for the difficult to buy for gardener or as gift for a special event such as an anniversary. You could really go all out and dress up tickets for a gardening holiday and place them in a travel bag with a holiday diary, sketch book, camera etc. I always think presenting tickets this way makes the gift complete and it needn't cost the earth. Tickets to a local garden presented in a plant pot with a packet of seeds is so effective.

Happy gardening!

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