Any gardening resolutions for the New Year?

Oh, by the way ... it's RESOLVE.
Yep! Gonna do less ... and enjoy my gardens more. I have dependable perennials for the "bare bones" of my gardens. This season I'm just going to add annuals for color and interest. And I also like to plant annuals in pots. Less bending and portable depending on the size of the pot. Happy gardening, all :-))

Completely emptying my garage, building & painting the remaining cabinets to hang on the French Cleats, bringing back in only what is NECESSARY, purging the rest...

I have ONE week to do this...

I resolve to implement a disciplined fertilization program on all beds. I have been religious about it with plumies and semi-religious with DLs, and there is no question these plants are appreciative. Now that beds are established and I'm planting the occasional replacement or annuals, I can devote time to this most necessary chore. And I mean thru the dog days of summer!

Akkkk! I can't edit it! Sorry folks, you'll have to look at my spelling mistake all week!

Other.

Years ago, I resolved never to make new year resolutions.

It's the only resolution I've ever kept.

;-)

I know my husband will appreciate the dead heading and neater beds. I do try, but the August heat gets to me as well as the plants. I'm just getting old, I think. I've also promised myself to get back to my yoga classes! Hope I can keep that one too.

I resolve to edit, edit, edit. I got to be like the Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe ... she had so many plants she didn't know what to do. I've enjoyed them all but it's definitely time to edit.

Other... Get at the weeds earlier and keep up with it!

In 2015, I resolve to keep the plants at window sill level, or just slightly higher, so we can see outside more. When plants that grow all year long threaten to raise the roof, not good.

Sylvain.

I agree with Cville about editing.. I started last summer by giving away lots of plants to gardening friends. I will be interested to see how the garden looks next Spring. I'm sure there will be more to take out or thin. That's why I voted for spending less time working in the garden and more time sitting on the patio and enjoying the garden. I don't know if it's the wisdom that comes with age, or if I'm just getting too old to keep up with what needs doing. My dear aunt used to tell me I was putting in too many gardens and that I wasn't getting any younger. How right she was!

I chose "Other". I need to make my gardens look better all year, not just summer and fall. I have some ideas. now I need to implement.....

I chose less and enjoy. I had a total stranger stop his car in front of our home, get out of the car to chat with me. He said, "I notice you have a bench under your Sumac tree but I have never seen you sit on it. I never see you doing anything but work on your garden. You might want to sit down sometime and enjoy your garden like I do every time I drive by." So I have been eliminating some plants.

I do tell my friends every year my garden is getting bigger or I am getting older.

Happy New Year.

I'm with Resin! I checked 'other', because I, too, decided several years ago never to make another New Year's resolution. And it is the only one I've ever kept! No sense in changing a good thing!

Vern

I want to lay the groundwork for a permaculture food forest/savanna and be done by mid-March at the latest, so I can visit my family in the States for three weeks withoutworrying about my garden!

I resolve to incorporate more beneficial perennials into my veggie garden. (My "friend" pictured.)

I've found that I "enjoy" the work of the garden more than the garden itself; so I don't really take the time to go out and just be in the garden. In October, we started a major overhaul of my gardens (front & back) in which we are still involved. We had to replace our privacy fence and one thing led to another . . . you know how that goes in the garden. At any rate, once the major work is done (which must happen before the end of February), I resolve to truly enjoy the fruit of our labor.

Hey Vossner, "plumies" and "DLs" doesn't mean much to those of us who aren't in your zone. So: plumerias maybe, and ??

I put "finish large project" because I have a bazillion visions (the amount of lawn I have decreases annually) and at least one hardscape project - glazing (with lexan) the little greenhouse I re-assembled last fall. And all the setup that's to be done, once it's enclosed. Then maybe I'll grow a bunch of annuals to fill in all the holes this too-snowless winter is sure to create. The week plus of subzeroes we're starting will surely kill off a bunch of things, with less than two inches of snow cover. LET IT SNOW.

But really: with all the gardens I have around the place, I can go out any day and come up with a project that would last two whole days. Doing the math, it becomes obvious that I'll never catch up, which is a darned good thing. It helps me appreciate the rest that I get in winter.

I'm with dshoemaker re gardening vs sitting, as enjoyment. I do make my morning strolls to enjoy the gardens, but I'm sure what I count as enjoyment - deadheading, going after the stray weed, grooming here and there - looks like "work" to those who drive by. Nope. Not really. And those benches by the fire pit, with their views of the gardens and the lake, just give me a spot where I can have a couple sips of chard when the sun is low in the west, before I see the next spot that I really *must* visit because it looks great; where no doubt I'll discover something to deadhead, or perhaps an aphid infestation, or some indication that it's time to fertilize. Still. So many beautiful things en route, every day.

Such decadence! But I'm ever so grateful.

All bets are off. I have to start a whole new garden in Florida this year.
Martha

Yea, Martha!