Happy May Day sweet friends! I recently was scrolling through Instagram and stopped to read a post by a gardening account that I follow. The writer of the post claimed that a magnificent garden makeover took her only 15 minutes to create. There were before and after photos and truly, it did look SO GOOD! But 15 minutes… that didn’t seem quite… accurate. My thoughts turned to an area in my yard that was a similar size and in a comparable “before photo” state. So I decided to set a timer and get to work. This post will feature the results of A Realistic Garden Makeover.
The Garden Before
Let’s start with the before photos of the area that was in need of a good cleanup.
Nestled amongst the weeds is my constant and cute gardening companion.
Indeed the only thing actually growing in the bed was some English phlox. Everything else needed to be weeded out.
Ready, Set, Weed!
On a beautiful Saturday morning I had a lovely breakfast, put on some comfortable gardening clothing, grabbed a hat and a big cup of water.
I assembled all of my tools which included a stool, a kneeling pad, trowel, and hand rake.
At 8 am I commenced weeding.
I weed by hand. I do this to make sure the complete root is pulled out. It had rained buckets the day before so the soil was nice and loose. Perfect to extract weeds from the dirt.
8:15 I am still weeding.
9:15 Still weeding. I haven’t stopped for anything.
10:00 am I finally finish the weeding.
It was now a nice clean slate of dirt. I could start planting. All of Gracie’s little walk path of wood blocks were also restored to their upright positions.
A Realistic Garden Makeover
You may remember that two years ago I created a Jane Austen (Georgian era) garden in another bed behind the shed.
The Sweet William and other native wilderflowers have propegated quite well and the bed actually needed to be thinned out.
So I did just that and planted the overabundance in the newly clean bed.
This task took just one hour.
Two weeks later and it is still looking great! It should fill out as spring turns to summer.
The look will definitely be like an English cottage garden.
So yes, this was a realistic 3 hour makeover.
I think that it was a very worthy investment of my time. This bed can be seen from the back door. Our patio table, where we often have al fresco lunch, is very close by as well.
As for the gardener who claimed she had transformed a similar area in just 15 minutes… Well, I went back to that post and started scrolling through the comments.
Several people asked the same questions that I had in my mind.
Did she have a special weeding tool? No.
Did she have a team of people? No.
I quietly hit the unfollow button as I don’t want/need click bait in my life.
I also don’t want to feel, even for one moment, that what I am doing is not good enough.
We are each on our own indivdual journey. Some of us move more slowly than others. But that is perhaps because we have stopped to smell the roses.
The world’s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May. ~ Edwin Way Teale
On this May Day I wish you love, peace, and happiness however you may find it.
Laura
Love your makeover, Laura! I know it will fill in nicely and you will soon have a beautiful spot. Your roses are to die for! We are a month behind you (in Colorado) and I can’t wait for mine to appear. You are so right about being good enough — “Comparison is the thief of Joy” and it seems to be a national pasttime! Happy May Day!
Beautiful Laura and so satisfying. I don’t measure myself by others…God has designed me the way He wants me to be and He loves me as I am…even though I have been cleaning my office for weeks now…doing about 15 minutes a day or until I tire. I am removing clutter and keeping treasures. Some days I am not feeling up to it and I reward myself with a nap. It does not bother me that I have boxes labeled Donate, Keep, Discard and Returns….sitting in my office as I look at them and I see progress. Thank you for a refreshing post today. Take care my friend.
With my back, time in the garden weeding is limited and if I could afford to have it torn out and stoned over and covered with pots, I would! So I really admire your weeding and getting things in order. Three hours would be way past my capacity but it looks just fabulous and I can only imagine it in another month or so. I regret that about every other photo would not load, despite reloading the post several time and opening it in another browser. But I get the idea — it will be just lovely. Well done, you!
Laura, it looks beautiful! I was going to grow sweet William this year and now you have encouraged me to try.
I agree, inflow those who make us feel like less or who are less than truthful.
Beautiful, Laura, and how great that you could thin out and replant. I am completely aligned with you and the realistic approach to gardening. It takes me – generally speaking – one hour to just plant a single pot, as I have to dig out the native soil and amend it every time. That means sorting the really bad stuff from it all (throwaway), and amending what’s left with garden soil and/or compost. Fifteen minutes, I doubt it!
15 minutes does seem unrealistic for a garden makeover. I wonder if she had previously sprayed the weeds. That was neat that you could thin out one bed by planting some of it in another. That way they match, too, so you didn’t have to make any new plant-buying decisions. I love that you have a path for your little doggy through the flower beds. And I *love* the roses on the arch.