Gardening Do's and Don'ts

At risk of unveiling myself as a master of gardening folly, amongst many gardening geniuses (all of you), I will share some of my foolish gardening mistakes. Hopefully there is someone else out there who also has advice to share. You could also share good ideas that are good TO do to help prevent foibles, difficulties, and inconveniences.

Gardening do's and don'ts:

Don't buy green gardening gloves and lay them down somewhere out in the yard (they are well camouflaged).
Do buy bright pink or purple gloves, so as to find them easily when they are set down somewhere.

Don't stake a Eucalyptus tree even if the winter wind is whipping it around. The trunk will be weak and fall over later when the tree is bigger because it didn't gain strength from fighting with the wind.
Do just let it sway with the breeze.

Don't lay down a section of old carpet to smother weeds, leave it there until the grass manages to grow over it, forget it is there and then pile layers of compost and leaves on top of that to smother the grass once again. It will be very hard to dig out later.
Do lay down cardboard to smother grass (it decomposes, unlike the carpet), but remember to take the tape off of it which can be an annoyance later if left on.

Who in the world dreamed up leather gardening gloves, particularly the snazzy yellowish ones that look so good when you first try them on that you think about looking cool and all Montana-ish and want to wear them in town - when they get wet the colour comes off leaving you with nicotine nails and jaundice hands for about a week. Don't try to scrub it off - you'll scrub til it hurts, and it doesn't work. You'll still have jaundice hands. Do just smile when you see people staring at your hands, or keep them in your pockets when you go to Starbucks.

ROTFLOL

That's too funny! Oh, wait, I have green gloves. And I forget where I lay things to kill of grass. Hmm...

Laurie, I've seen people with those yellow hands. I smile politely and try to look like I understand. ☺

Kwanjin, but are they gardeners? Or just jaundiced, heavy smokers? Thats the toughie - I'm always sure, especially the way I look when I run into town to get the milk - that I'm dressed like the heavy smoking, jaundiced, bag lady - thank goodness my car is a dead give away that I'm that tottie from up the road!

Don't hold your garden tool in your hand as you dump a load of weed into the garbage can.

Old carpet is great for lining ponds before you put in the liner.

Laurie, you can tell the difference because the yellow stops at their wrists! LOL

I'm definately going to keep my sleeves rolled back - or maybe not. With them down I might get sympathy, with them up they will just roll their eyes and think..............I'm not going there.

Willowwind - good advice. I just dug one of my hand tools out of the compost bin - been in there for at least a year, possibly two. Rule next: don't put your tool/gloves in the weeding bucket 'so you don't lose it' - although I'm always positive I'll remember to dig it out before I dump things on the compost pile, I'm always reminded later I forgot!

Don't help your DH unload wood from the back of your Stationwagon, then lay your best gloves on the car when you are done, and forget to remove then before he moves the car and goes to town. "MIA" last see, on bumper of said car 40 miles per hour down road for 2.5 miles, your guess where they may have ended up. LOL
And I just had them comfy.
Tills

This message was edited Aug 14, 2008 1:21 AM

Once you are past seventy do not try to do anything without thinking it out thourghly.

I'm going to amend that, Willow. Don't try it past 40. ☺

This has nothing to do with gardening, But a lesson learn.
Don't try to make the 10 miles home in the dead of night, when you car is acting up and the Temp. gauge decided not to work. I just blew the engine in my car and didn't know it.
So Sad

Oh no Tills - that's terrible, but are you okay? Did you actually make it home safely - it didn't give out before you got there I hope.

And as far as thinking out the doing - If I did that, at any age, I'd still be thinking - sorry, WW, I am a jump into the middle and swim-doer. Gives you that rush of adrenelin when you find yourself in the midst of a project and think 'okay - I've got it this far........'

Made it Home safe.

Do carry a cell phone and hopefully have road service. Have had to use same a number of times, once with DM (who's 94) in the car with me. Called DH to get her safely home while I dealt with the car.

First, be sure that you break down in an area that has cell phone cover - our area is odd geographically, so no phone cover here.

Laurie, I think quickly just not throughly ^_^

I'm with you WW - I think quickly, and in multi directions, and with all the options, and the what-if, oh yeahs, how abouts, and lets try this - and then I go get a cup of tea. I'm much faster if I just do. I save the thinking until I'm in the bath after the day of doing - now lets see, where to tomorrow......

Laurie you are quick and funny.

Have both, cars is toast, made it home safe. Now need new car. LOL

Oh, Tills, I'm so sorry. Cars are just a nuisance - solution, stay home!

Tils I'm so sorry about your car. Glad you made it home okay. Bummer deal. We went to Bremerton today to a going away party for our grandson who is going to Iraq. He is an amazing young man. Very sure of himself. And I always thought he would be our delinquent.^_^

Laurie, I wish I could, but have to pay the bills, and don't forget I have that plant fedish that we all have and all the things that go with it. LOL
Having to borrow for now, Hate it......
'But ya got to do, what ya got to do'
Tills

Glad you are alright Tilly. Good luck with the car hunt, and beware car sharks that are trying to flip vehicles that have been in wrecks or worse.

Good luck to your grandson Willow, that he may return safely.

I thankfully have not had yellow hands, Laurie, but I have found that picking basil to make pesto turns my fingertips black for several days. This creates a very strange effect. Knowing this, I now use scissors when harvesting.

Another vehicle don't. Don't take buckets of barnacles and periwinkles in salt water to school for children to observe, thinking that the salt water will stay in the buckets even if you drive slowly over the speed bumps. Doing this for several years will rust out the back of your car.

Oh Holly, sorry to say this, But it is kinda funny to think they won't spill. LOL
Hope its not to bad, I know salt water damage is bad, thats why east coast cars don't last to long, they use salt on the roads during winter, They may have change that haven't been there in years. Next time get some 10 Gal. sterlite totes with lids and poke holes in the top for air, just a thought. ^_^
Are you going to be out shopping for a car like me LOL.
Tills

I, for one, want to hear more do's and don'ts for the garden. Way more interesting than the ones at the back of Glamour mag! Or, there may just be a fashion for gardeners do's and don'ts---I confess to sometimes being out there in my jammies. C'mon, you've done it, too, on the way back with the newspaper!

My glove solution (and for everything else, too, it seems) is to have tons of them so I can always stumble onto a pair. Big yard, both front and back. I have a few old mailboxes strategically located for stashing twine, gloves, scissors, clippers, bug spray (for me), and even hats. They keep everything pretty dry, and are pretty cute. You can find them at yard sales.

My sympathy, too, about the broken car. Sounds like it was a workhorse. Best of wishes for the grandson and the proud gramma.

MHF - I'm going to keep that the one about salt water in buckets on a post-it in my car - I really must break that habit!!

Velveteena - this sounds like a marvellous idea - please show pics!

I don't know if this is a do or don't. Old lady with long flying grey hair in nightgown, robe and slippers walking down to the mailbox to get the morning paper and then do a little gardening on the way back. I think it is a do for any eccentric old lady.

My neighbor caught me this morning, butt down in the garden, taking pics of bees. She seemed quite shocked and wasn't sure what to say. ☺

WW, I bet you look terrrrrrifffffffffffffffffffficccccccc!!

That is so funny kwanjin

WW, I've been caught like that a few times. Also, with jammies on and getting the mail, etc...

Well I got smart about 5-6 years ago and paint all the handles of the tools either hot pink or bright yellow:) yes it wears off in the season but at least now I am loosing them and replacing them like I used to.

D

Cute, entertaining thread! So many good suggestions! Here are some for you:

Don't bother to plant baby plants next to mature ones in the spring. The mature ones will quickly cover the babies and shade them out. You'll never know it until fall when you see the pathetic little plant tag standing all alone next to the dead leaves of the now dormant mature plant. Sigh. Such a waste.

If you are one of those like me who just jump into a task with all limbs akimbo and then pay for it with pain later, don't even bother to complain about the pain. Just take your ibuprofen quietly, sneak into the kitchen to prepare that ice bag, and try not to look your dh in the eye. Otherwise you might see the stern 'hands on hips' look you are going to get as he thinks 'she has done it again! Will she never learn?'.

Here's a no-brainer: if you have a large yard or piece of property (read: larger than a postage stamp city yard) do your very, very best to realize that every garden bed you make is one that will need tending. Then go back and count the hours in the day for a reality check.

Another one: Size your pot ghetto according to the number of hours you counted in the suggestion above.

Put a limit on the number of zone-denial plants that you are willing to care for over the winter. Stick to your limit. When you crave big beautiful tropical blossoms and leaves, look at magazines.

Too, too funny, Pixy and all too true!

Nicely said, Pix, but this would require self-restraint. And that is something I have in short supply when it comes to my yard!!

Being from Montana and being "Montanaish" I garden with no gloves so everyone sees my callous'. Then when pulling native roses you (ouch) have lots of (**&^^%%ouch) callous with splinters of rose thor(ouch!)ns in them so when you communicate with DGers you can tell them how tough you are. Sorry I need to make this short because (ooooow) I can soak my hands in lye to cool them down. LOL

There are limits in gardening?

Sofer, That was a beautiful shot of your garden. What is the little one between the stones?

Soferdig, you are manly even without the callouses. No need for masochistic gardening techniques that require microsurgery later on just to prove yourself.

Here's another garden 'don't': Don't fail to mark where you have thrown seed into the flower bed, erroneously believing that you will 'remember' it later. And if you are silly enough to do this, please, under no circumstances should you begin to wonder why you still have a large blank spot in the garden after you've laid in several inches of nice compost on top of everything.

It is a moss rose that seeded itself there.
Yes you should mark the area, but how do you keep your garden partner out of that marked space, they just place a plant that, they just had to buy even when there is no place to put it.
Garden don'ts. Yell at your wife when she plants over your seeded area. Tell your wife that the color mix that she put together is "strange". Ask her if she has any plans for the new garden bed you have built and planned over the last 3 years. Forget to compliment her for.............
I hauled over 1,100 lbs of rocks like this from Michigan to Montana so my DW would be happy in her new 'pudding stone' garden.