New Year resolutions (in the garden) what are yours?

Each year we all make resolutions, how many of us try to keep them , they are so hard to keep. So we stay on the edge of those minute decisions hoping that we will do better this year that the previous one , sometimes it works out and sometimes well... Life offer us interruptions and sometimes we do forget about those well intended resolutions. So get ready here are few of mine...

Planting the bulbs on time ( not wait until after new year)
Do not start more seed more than you have the space to plant them unless you have friends with whom to share them or a waiting list.
Divide, divide, divide...
Do not buy plants on impulse then go home and try to find a spot to put them when there are not any spots left...The yard is saturated....
It is not because someone offer you a plant that they no longer want that you must take it to give it a good home (some of them are still waiting for a good home languishing in pots).
Do not order more seeds than you plan on planting ( I have boxes full of those I must have )
Do one project at the time.... (hard to do)
This list is long enough , I should post it somewhere in the house or by the computer.....

What' on your list ?.

Shame on you Orchidfancy! You peeked and copied my list!

Really? are we all having the same gardening issues. Today I planted half of my bulbs, crocus, daff, some of my lilies tomorrow regardless how cold it is tulips.... the day after if the weather permits all the orphans sitting in pots looking a bit forlorn..... what did you do today LOL.
I am trying to make good on my new year resolution well more or less...
Here is something that I found in my garden and that I really admired for the softness and how pretty they were Anemone seeds, They look a bit like cotton but much softer. I have a whole container that I gathered, here goes more seeds.

Blush, Blush, Blush. Don't tell anyone I have a few bags of bulbs still laying on the front porch. Really it's Ric's fault they followed him home one day. LOL

Mine should be-
Get out all the older seeds that never got planted when they should have, and plant them BEFORE buying lots of impulse.
Dittto to- do not bring home stuff and think a spot will magically appear. What happens instead is that they get 'ranked', and the most boring things end up in a corner or crammed in pots.

LOL greenthumb

Anemone 'cotton' looks really fun. orchidf.

This message was edited Jan 3, 2012 8:16 AM

This spring I will be seeding the little dears I love anemones and I feel there is never enough in my garden because they bloom for so long and reproduce so well and they love semi shade . Anyone interested in some of those seeds?

I just saw this thread. Here it is Feb. but the year is still young and I do have some garden resolutions. I think it best to keep things open ended, though.

1) Weed more often
2) Install irrigation for veggie/berry garden
3) Figure out espaliering fruits
4) Get some trees pruned
5) Move some bushes
6) Re-do front yard beds
7) Add more butterfly plants

That's manageable, but I've so far have done homework on the butterfly plants and espaliering. Come spring, let's see if I'm up for all the other hyperactivity.

Good time to revive this! I did better on not buying impulse seeds. SO FAR...

I think I bought seeds on impulse. Thank goodness for the swap coming up in Cherry Hill, NJ in April.

Biggest job for me will be to clean up beds, put down new weed mat everywhere and re mulch everything. That covers a lot of territory.

Same here a lots of leaf cleaning , and reorganizing. this is the last year that I will do this much work, I am getting to old for all this I need a break....

I wonder if I should even try to do anything in the townhouse backyard, last year the dogs undid anything they could get their big paws into.Could do containers all around the yard again and maybe hanging baskets on the fence. We will see.

A couple cute ideas, I do have alot of teapots, just need to drill holes in the bottoms.

Catbird what cute ideas.
I will spend more time dead heading and follow thru with garden maintenance all summer long.
I like dead heading but usually about half way thru the summer towards August I kind of loose it and things just start to get messy.

Robin!!!

Your "HB's" are adorable!!!!! Did you think of this all by your own little self??????

I never seem to do anything whimsical in my garden--I guess it just is not my "thing".....

Gita, I just found those pictures, have not tried them myself yet. It would keep the plants away from the dog.

Such original ideas. I should do more with my fences but I don't seem to be very inspired....But those pictures give me some food for thoughts. I have so much to do and I have not even started dead heading things....

Let's see, your list looks an awful lot like mine... peeking into my empty head? ;)
So far, I'm on track with mine; I got my bulbs out on time (this firms up my belief in miracles, I must say!)
-Now, about starting those seeds.... know anyone who may want some surplus Dark Knight Butterfly bushes? *giggle* We don't *really* have to have plans for what we start, do we??? I know I didn't set a strict plan for those Columbines, but I have been wanting some for YEARS now!!
-Oh, thank you for the reminder, I have GOT to get out there and divide up my sedums!!
-My yard is not yet saturated , and I'm sure I'll be able to find a spot for something(s) new out there! =) (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)
- At work, BossMan is ALWAYS offering me tired looking stuff to take home and revive and enjoy.. do you have any idea how hard it is to work at a nursery and say "No" to the BossMan when he says "Here, take this home with you!"?? It makes my toes curl and my eyes water!!! ='0
- I don't really have a problem with ordering seeds, at work I "deadhead with a purpose", collecting what I'm cleaning up, so I get a nice variety of seeds for free... anyone got some spare acreage they could share with me please? =D
- One project at a time... oh dear, I'm not sure I'm man enough to commit to THAT one! I'm the most scatter-brained person I have ever known, I cannot hold still to ONE thing at a time, I just can't!

So far, my resolution list is filling out nicely, I think. I got my tomato bed prepped in the Fall, and I look at it daily to make sure it's still there. ;) (it is).
-I am GOING to arrange my new weeper hoses next month. This will be the first time I've ever used those, so I'm all excited about my new toys.
-I am GOING to check the Otto Lyukens out front and move the surviving ones to the back where it's mostly shade.
- I am GOING to divide those 2 Sedums.
- I am GOING to stick with the plan of making my entire driveway-side bed nothing but Red Fox Veronicas. (while allowing the left-overs from last year to have their fun too)
-I am GOING to start on prettying up my back yard, darnit!

That's about all, me thinks. Too much more and my brain cell will explode and run away.

Oh goodness, I forgot to mention: Catbird, I just LOVE those boots on the fence as containers, how adorable!! I wonder how they are attached, to be able to hold the weight of the soil, any idea? I've got an ugly fence in my backyard (between us and the neighbors), and I'd love to spruce it up with something like that. Thank you for the inspiration! =)

Not to be a spoilsport-----BUT--I will be!

I do not make resolutions of any kind....NEVER!....It just adds another level of "must do" to my life.
My life is full of "musts" and "shoulds" as I have grown older--and my energy levels have decreased.
it can become a burden.

IF I make promises to myself (resolutions) and then do not have time, or I do not fee like doing it---I feel like I have,
somehow, failed. I do not like feeling that I have failed. I am like the Energizer Bunny......go...go...go...
but, I can only go...go...go..that far. Then I want to rest and do something else---more relaxing....

I have reached that stage in my life where just sitting and watching TV, as I knit or do something
creative, is all that satisfies me.
Of course--the "musts" and "shoulds" never goes away. They always hang over my head and bother me.

I KNOW that I will never achieve all the things I want to finish and accomplish before I am "gone".
That saddens me a lot......as all the things I have created, but not finished, no one else can finish.
They are all MINE! Made out of my mind and creation. And--they are lots and lots of craft projects...

This lays heavy on my mind--every single day. Yet--I have all this free time--and I sit here on DG---or I sit in my
kitchen and do this and that--or--cooking something seems to be the best excuse for me not to do anything else....

All I can say is that, as you get "up there" in age--(I will be 75 in a couple of weeks) doing what relaxes you takes priority.
Having to do what you MUST do--seems so easily avoidable--if you find the right excuse....just create another "priority".....

I am a person that never breaks promises. IF I say I will do something--I will do it.
This also means "promises" I make to myself (resolutions). SO! I don't do it!!!

Life is too short to stress out about "shoulds". Just do what you enjoy doing----the rest will fall into line sooner or later.

Ahhhh.....It felt so good to put all this in writing. Gita

Hi speediebean~

I would think when you screw the boots onto the fence you want to at least use a large washer so that the screw doesn't just tear a hole pretty soon. ...

My resolution last year to put priority on weeding BEFORe the weeds bloom, and mulching more, does seem to have paid off with less new sprouting weeds.

Ok GIta, we hear you. It really does feel good to get things out, doesn't it?

Gita, **BIG HUG**!!! Aaaaaah, yes it certainly does feel good to just BLEUAGGHHH sometimes, huh?

I do agree with you too... to a point. When it comes to something enjoyable like gardening, it doesn't seem to make any sense to set out to kill the joy by turning it all into a bah-humbug CHORE. Sucks the life right out of it. However, there are some of us (like me) who absolutely neeeeeed some sort of goals and guidelines laid out ahead of time or else I'd accomplish nothing! I'm so utterly unorganized and totally and completely scatterbrained that, were it not for the resolutions (goals, guidelines, call 'em what you will), I would hardly get around to *starting* anything, let alone finishing it; and what I do start, would get put on hold while I start another, and another and another. Soon I'd have 55 things started and none of 'em finished, and by the time I backtracked to one of the first ones, I'll have forgotten what the heck I was planning to do with it! My attention is that of a gnat, I tell ya! < =D (and my memory is worse! Eeeep!) And, I sure do love the sense of accomplishment when I look back on my love-labours and can go "Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, how nice! I DID THAT!" =) And with great relief, cross it off the list, Wheeeee!!!!!!

I guess the Good Lord made us to be all kinds for a reason. :)

speediebean--

Please do not feel sorry for me. Once in a while, I just need to wax psychological....

You just validated how I feel about "things"----I just do not make lists.
All that needs to be done is in my head anyway. Those are the "shoulds" I was referring to.....

Thanks for putting up with my long expressions of my feelings.....I will try to not go that far ....too often.

Gita

I guess there is one good thing to be said about being a bit home bound during the winter months. I don't have to see all that needs to be done outside and can pretend it isn't there. I am reminded the few times I do venture out for errands upon my return seeing dead stalks and leaves from last fall in so many areas. Very bothersome. With the weather being as decent as it has been so far this winter, I have made some walking around the yard trips and thankfully have seen some beautiful blooms already from a Primrose and some yellow Crocus type of plant. Adjacent to the bed with the blooms, there is a corner of the yard that is full of wind blown containers, sticks and anything else that was left outdoors in the past months rather than put away where it belonged. What an ugly site. While sitting here writing this, I am now feeling a bit obligated to go and remove the mess that I didn't have time to tend to the other day.

Yep, our list here pretty much compares to the others who have written. Bulbs needing to go in the ground, last years deadened stalks to be put in compost bin, etc., etc. Am glad to have seen this today. It motivates me to get outside where the sun is shining and get my days fill of sunshine and fresh air.

Speaking of to do lists.....If I didn't keep a running one, nothing here would get done. I agree with Gita that sometimes they can be guilt producing when nothing much is getting crossed off as done. When I do see a to do list that nothing much is being done, I have at times had to start another column and list the things I did accomplish in a day and that will often help me realize that even though I didn't accomplish the things I felt important the day before, that I did in fact accomplish usually other things that were just as important but hadn't been listed.

Anyway.....thanks everyone for writing. I see that I am in good company and shouldn't fee too terribly bad about all that needs to be done. Hope that everyone is taking advantage of the pretty day and getting things done....even if it means sitting with your feet propped up and looking at seed catalogues.

Ruby

Ah, Gita-I know what you must feel. There's never enough time in a day to fully enjoy it for yourself because there are so many things to look after, think about and take care of. Here's where you have to make choices. Do this and let something else go. I keep myself going by choosing what's important to me.

To quote King Richard (from Shakespeare), when his army was being overrun by his adversary, he came away from his castle window looking stunned. He said "O, t'was my care. What is it to be rid of care?" If you lose something, you have less to care about. So go ahead and lose it, else, keep your battle plans flexible.




This message was edited Feb 20, 2012 12:11 AM

Gita, I think I was more like "feelin' for ya", than "feelin' sorry for ya"... if that helps? < ;) I tend to be a huggie person, I just can't seem to help myself. But, as for keeping 'things' in your head... I keep all my 'things' on paper 'cause my head is like a seive and always has been. ... lucky I can remember my own name half the time. =/ I'm like Rubyw in that I keep a running list (or 3) constantly, I just absolutely neeeeeeed it to be able to get anything done. As my Mom used to tell me (starting from when I was only SIX years old), I'd lose my head if it weren't attached! Just yesterday I was flitting about the kitchen making pizza dough when I lost track of my towel... only to have Hubby point out to me that it was where it belonged, hanging from my apron. Sheeeesh!

Please don't hesitate to "rant" when you feel the need to, sometimes it's necessary to just spew a bit. =)

Thanks, speedie (how did you choose that DG name?)

I am a great 'huggie" person myself. I like the saying that--"you cannot give a hug and not get one back"....

I am mostly frustrated about my lack of focus on any one thing that needs doing.
As I go from room to room--I see piles of things than need doing---but then-the number of "things"
becomes so overwhelming--that I rather retreat to something more comfortable--like my computer,
my TV in the kitchen (but ONLY if I can do something productive while watching it), or find some chore
in the garden to attend to (when the weather gets warmer).

My middle name is "Procrastination"....and I am my own maker of all things that add up to it.
Living alone just makes so many household things-to-do OK if I put them off.

{{{{{ speediebean}}}}}} Gita

You should see me haul when, and if, I have company coming!

Oh my goodness Gita, talking to you is like talking to myself! =) I get my best work done in the last 2 hours of the day before Hubby gets home from work... the rest of the time I'm trying to figure out how to get it done and trying hard to justify my *not* doing it. Case in point; I'm here in DG right now! < =D (gotta remember to move that load of laundry from the washer...)

Let's see, the name 'speediebean'... I'll try to shorten the long story. I used to be a big NASCAR fan (before they changed the points system). Once upon a time while visiting my Mom, we were out shopping and I saw these cute "beanie baby" things, only in the shape of, and decorated like, NASCAR cars. The name on the tag was "Speediebeanie", so I stole.... errrr, borrowed it! =) You can call me Suze though, if ya like. < =D

""I get my best work done in the last 2 hours of the day before Hubby gets home from work... the rest of the time I'm trying to figure out how to get it done and trying hard to justify my *not* doing it. Case in point; I'm here in DG right now! ""
Me too!! Then he went and got a part time job!

>>> Me too!! then he went and got a part time job!>>>
Why that little stinker! Doesn't he realize he's messing with your time-management skills?? Tsk tsk tsk. ;)

Yesterday we had some actual winter, woke to about an inch of snow on the ground, so no outside fun for me, and I think I've done all the winter sowing I'm gonna do this year. I don't have a lot of seed for stuff that does well in shade (just Columbines, and those are sown already), and I have already put up my garden hose-holding thingy, so that's off the list. I think I need to revise my list of things to do. Ooooh, I KNOW!! Top of the list will be to draw out the design of my back-yard shady garden areas! =)

Oh, the picture.... it's of the garden-hose holder thingy next to the foot of the deck steps. I put that in about a month ago, and that was one of my "things to do in Spring".

LOL
Nice hose thingy!

I'm continuing with my resoluton to pull weeds BEFORE they flower- yesterday I got to some henbit (or is it ground ivy? there are two weeds very similar and I have never takne the time to learn which one is which) . I see speedwell and cardamine starting to bloom here and there!

I did some moss grooming the other day. Still feels too early to clean beds and the ground is just so wet but it is hard not to get out there and do somethings.
Speediebean, Hope to see you at our Plant Swap in May.

Holly, I am soooooooooooo looking forward to the plant swap in May!!!! ... that reminds me, I need to check back at the thread to see when and where it is. ;) I'll need to inform the BossLady on my FIRST day back that I'll need that day off! =)

It will be on May 19th and sometime the middle of March I will put up Swap threads with all the info you will need.

Fanshmabulous, thank you Ma'am! =) Wheeeeee!!!!!!!

I winter-seeded 4 containers yesterday. Just for the fun of it. I have only done this once
using the milk bottles, but they were quite inconvenient to open and water and all that.

There are so many perfect containers in the produce dept. Like--where 2lb. of grapes come in.
It is high, holes all around, and has plenty of room for soil. Because it is smallish--you can use
it for only 2 types of seeds or just one kind.
There is also a fairly deep, square vented all over container that something comes in. Not sure what....??
More than perfect for WS'ing.
I did use one 2L soda bottle also.

Put all of these in a pretty sunny spot. is that all right? Should they be in shade?

Speedybean------WHERE is Mechanicsville? In relation to Baltimore?
I am too lazy to look it up.

Gita

Your winter sown endeavours sound perfect to me Gita. I always put mine on my deck, where they get sunlight from sun-up to about 10:00-11:00, in the winter. When you get little sprouts, just becauseful they don't bake in there! =)

I'm waaayyyyy southwest of you, on the water. =)

I guess no one's interested in Shakespeare plays, but I enjoy an analogy now and then. :-) 'Tis my care!! Speediebean--I thought your name was a play on "Runner bean." Why didn't you switch to old stock car racing?

I raked my herb and rose garden areas last weekend. Pulled some of the spring weeds. Was suprised at the number of wild tree seedlings coming up--mostly cedars. Last year there was a weed that had a "walking" habit. It had roots like fishing line that formed a mat. It sent up tall thin blades of grass-like stalks I wanted to ID it, but didn't get around to it. It practically "walked" over and through other perennials. I didn't catch it before it got rampant, so this year I'm laying in wait. I have no idea where it came from!! Anyone recognize the description?

Still have a rose that was stuck in the mulch pile for temporary housing that needs to be planted in a real hole. It's a climber I am going to train up the fence.

Fox- it sounds sort of like something that people around here call wiregrass- a real devil!

Wire Grass is also known as Bermuda Grass--right?
Indestructible! Pulling it won't help. Every little piece of root left will continue to grow.

Roundup is the only thing. G.

Wire grass is a real pain in the grass. It can grow straight through a potato. I have a bit in the veggie garden and no amount of work seems to eliminate it entirely. As Gita said any bit of the soft, white, easily broken rhizome can give rise to a new plant. Vigilance is the only way to control it, digging up any new sprouts weekly and sifting out any parts. Do not compost this stuff!!! I think that's how I got it. Burn it, land fill it, throw it on the road to be dessicated and ground to chaff. Ric

What he said.