My favorite one is my front flower bed. I planted it a few years ago, and it expands yearly. As the plants grow bigger, they have to be moved farther apart. I feel I still have control over this flower bed - I can see most of the plants clearly - and I enjoy watching it grow.
I have another flower bed that I'm not enjoying too much these days. It rewards me with flowers all summer long - and I'm glad it's there. In fact, it has lots of the same plants in it that I have in the front flower bed. But I've lost control of it!
Years ago, in my inexperience as a gardener, I put in a few plants that spread - and those plants have taken over. This wild bed is now in dire need of weeding. I do weed it (or some part of it) almost every summer. (By weeding, I mean I pull out plants that have covered other plants. I pull them out ruthlessly, filling my compost heap, opening up the light to hidden plants below.) But the roots of these spreaders run deep - and next year they're back again. They grow well, especially when it rains!
It occurred to me, as I was looking out at this bed this morning, that my own life is a lot like this overrun flower bed. Over the years, a lot of activities have filled my life: parenting, playing and listening to music, traveling, taking pictures, weaving, writing, studying, teaching, sewing, furniture refinishing, quilting, knitting, creating a family history... the list goes on...
I still do a few of those, but I don't seem to get as much done as I'd like to. Maybe I need a clearer focus on what is really important to me right now, at this stage of life. To get this clearer focus, maybe I need to pare away stuff I no longer use and may never again need.
If I weed out the books, tools and craft supplies I no longer use, maybe I'll be able to focus more clearly on things I really want to be doing right now.
So as I weed my garden, I am also thinking of weeding out my house, my bookcase, my basement.
But then again, I wonder if I'm really capable of it! Maybe I should just follow the advice of my neighbor, who commented, when he saw my back flower bed: I would just let this one run wild!
I love this post! It could have been written by me, except I moved away from the plants, mostly garlic chives, that got control over my garden. I learned to avoid plants that can be invasive for the most part. Now if I could only get rid of the clutter in my house!
ReplyDeleteOh, I like the way you are increasing the size of the flower bed in the front. I would continue to pull some of the spreaders as much as you could without it being a strain.
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