For all of us, a perfect day in the garden will be the sum of many little tasks, revelations and modest triumphs that together make our collective hobby so satisfying.
But with such contrasting tastes and locations (and, in Caroline’s case, skill levels …) what really constitutes a perfect day in the garden for us three sisters? I’m afraid to say the following list may contain a little more than its fair share of sisterly oneupmanship …
1. Patience rewarded. My perfect day in the garden will always start with a perambulation after breakfast (so 7.30am for me, much later, no doubt, for C and E ) when I will hopefully come across some plant that has finally come good after years of patient cosseting. At the moment this slot is being filled by Crambe cordifolia, which is flowering for the first time after 10 years and three location changes (a level of commitment unthinkable by E or C).
2. Compost making Another real satisfaction for me is to make a batch of my own peat-free potting compost by up-cycling components from around the garden that I already have at my disposal. So I tip all the spent contents of pots in which plants have died into a big wheelbarrow first. Then I add in great dollops from our compost heap and dung lump, plus a bit of bark and gravel. Lastly I mix the whole lot up with a spade. Not only is this better for the planet, the heaving and twisting involved means it’s better for my waistline – it’s a win-win that gives me a warm glow inside and out.
3 Wildlife watching My perfect day would also include a moment of mindfulness as I watch a cloud of pollinators descend on a particular group of the plants; their hormones have told them to go into nectar overdrive to get that all-important cross-fertilisation achieved. Clever plant breeders are now producing sterile clones that are incapable of fertilisation. This results in a much longer period of flower and nectar production – good for the bees, but a bit cruel to the poor plants who are endlessly attracting flirting and attracting pollinators without the loving relationship ever being properly consummated.
4 Catching scent on the air. Scent is the most evocative of our senses especially when it catches you unaware. The plant that has come up trumps for me this spring is a humble self-sown perennial stock, Matthiola incana ‘Alba’. It has conveniently positioned itself close enough to our swing seat to be discernible on the breeze as we have a cuppa on Sunday afternoon listening to GQT on the radio – now that’s definitely part of a perfect day in the garden, and the scene is our feature picture this week
Oooooh, can’t you just hear the smug tone in Laura’s voice as she tells us about her homemade peat-free compost? Laudable of course, and I do make compost, but Laura needs to get out more if making a compost mix is part of her Perfect Day in the Garden. I have different ideas – surprise, surprise! Here we go:
5. A touch of sunshine: There was a time when I could lie out in the sun and relish the heat for hours – barmy, of course even when slathered in Factor 50. No more. Now, all I need is a warm, bright day in which to potter around the garden while wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat. I HAVE had happy times wading around in muddy borders in the pelting rain, but contentment is a lot harder to find when your gloves are sodden and there’s a slug crawling up your neck.
6. Weeding a patch: I kinda LOVE weeding. I have a trillion weeds in my garden, and it may appear to the casual observer that I have a very laissez-faire attitude to them. But when I set myself to clear an area so that the things I actually planted there can have the air, space, and nutrients they were supposed to have, it’s soooo satisfying!
I’m talking about the easy annual stuff here, of course, like groundsel, chickweed and hairy bittercress; digging out ground elder, brambles and bindweed would NOT be part of an ideal day. I love the story about Christopher Lloyd at Great Dixter being really annoyed with a visitor who, unasked, did a bit of weeding for him of a certain patch which he had been saving for himself!
7. A bit of appreciation. Okay, so you have spent all day bottom-up in the flowerbeds, dead-heading this, moving that, pruning a shrub, propping up a delphinium etc. etc. and you’re ready for a sit-down with a snifter. You’re pleased with your efforts (though there is ALWAYS more to do) but what a sweet moment it is when your partner, or anyone, says “That looks nice!” Do you know that Kipling poem about how ‘Such gardens are not made, by singing “Oh, how beautiful!” and sitting in the shade’? You are SO right, Rudyard! When you have put in the graft, even though you took pleasure in the work it involved, a little recognition goes a long, long way!
Making compost? Intensive weeding? What’s wrong with my sisters? It all sounds dreadfully dull when you could be …..
8. Plant shopping. MacPlants, Binny Plants, Glendoick, Abriachan, a visit to any of these destination nurseries in Scotland constitutes a perfect day for me. Budget constraints evaporate when you pore over the priceless wonder of a plant you haven’t seen before (and that your neighbours or indeed sisters don’t have.) A purchase was inevitable a few years ago when Donald Davidson at Abriachan Nursery murmured “Ah ‘Langtrees’ the only osteospermum that’s reliably hardy in the Highlands”, and now when it re-appears after yet another Highland winter – well that’s another perfect day right there.
9. Slug wars – Can’t lie, my ideal moment would be finding a note from the slugs to say they’ve won the lottery and they’re moving. A wet spring can bring them out in force and now that slug pellets are a ‘no no’ it requires a battle of strategy and cunning with these slimey foe. I’ve tried sawn-off orange squash bottles, copper collars, wool pads, eggshells – I’ve only got beer traps to go. It’s quite Blue Peter-ish and truthfully I enjoy the challenge, particularly since my expert sisters are no more successful than me at this.
10. Marvelling at plants‘ resilience. A huge pleasure for me is monitoring the miraculous return of plants I inadvertently strimmed off at ground level last year. Having little time and possibly too much hospitality, I don’t really do DETAIL, and some of quite expensive shrublets have taken a very cold shower indeed under my command of the strimmer. But like your lifelong bestie, Mother Nature is immensely forgiving, and how one’s heart leaps with joy when that plant you thought you’d killed, produces just one tiny shoot.
Finally – Laura has actually just ruined one of my perfect days. Call me Little Miss Schadenfreude, but it’s a great disappointment her Crambe cordifolia has finally come good. It was an annual delight to send her a pic of mine flowering gloriously and to hear that yet again hers had just produced a few paltry leaves.
You see pleasures don’t always have to be laudable – what makes you most happy in your garden? We’d love to hear your ideas!
Thinking of investing in a lemon tree this summer? Or maybe you have one already that’s not looking so good. Laura is imparting the wisdom she has accumulated over her years of growing citrus tree in the video below (just click on the picture and the video will run)
Louise grows this hosta not only for its cool, calming effect in the busy summer border, but also because it comes from a strain that is particularly resistant to slugs. No wonder its her Great Plant this Month!
More NB If you’re not already a subscriber and you’d like a bit more gardening chitchat from the3growbags, please type your email address here and we’ll send you a new post every Saturday morning.
16 replies on “10 ways to have a perfect day in the garden”
Oh, girls, this one really made me laugh!
And yes the famous Crambe Cordifolia. Lost count of how many I have lost to slugs.
But one of my best gardening memories was returning from a gite in France with the kids to go out for a walk round in the dark garden…yes am that keen. What was that huge drift of white?
I got up in the morning to discover a beautifully flowering Crambe…oh the joy!
Glad you enjoyed it, Ishbel! Elaine here, and as you may know we are lucky enough to have a garden in Normandy as well as in the UK. Whenever we travel to either one, the very FIRST thing we do, before unpacking or even putting the kettle on, is walk around the garden and see what everything is doing – what’s blooming, what’s over, what’s flopping, what’s just coming in bud…. and like you, we occasionally have some very welcome surprises. Your Crambe moment sounds really wonderful – just what we all do it for, eh! All the best
I’m so glad that Laura makes her compost in the same way as I do – so I reckon I’m doing something right! Loved the photo of Caroline with her strimmer in spaghetti mode – it happened to me yesterday .
Marion sorry for tardy response – FAR too much to do at this time of the year isn’t there. Caroline here and I’m so pleased I’m not the only one that gets into a complete bind with strimmer wire. It pings everywhere but the place you want it to go! I am finally getting better at re-spooling it, but that improvement has come at the cost of some very unglamorous hours with goggles and ear mufflers on! Compost is crazily expensive, I think I’m about to join the same team as you and Laura on that front! Kindest regards, Caroline
Walking with the ever knotting hose in the evening, seeing new plants thriving …along with unseen, often rather Large , weeds
Oh Janet, that sounds familiar! Elaine here. What IS it about hosepipes that they always have to knot themselves up?! I do like watering thirsty plants though, and sensing them revive after a hot day. I tend to let most of the plants in the borders fend for themselves unless they are newly-planted on the basis that if they are constantly looking miserably in need of water they are in the wrong place. But the pots must be tended to, and I do find it a very relaxing thing to do. Happy gardening!
I agree wholeheartedly with your idea for a perfect day in the garden. However, I would add a sit down to admire my work with a drink of something appropriate.
That’s the way, Linda! Elaine here, and everyone needs a little respite at the end of a day of gardening, however enjoyable we found the tasks. I’m all for a bit of self-appreciation at times coupled with a snifter or two, and I know Caroline would agree with me (while Laura would look on disapprovingly……🤣). All the best,
Like Elaine I also love weeding and take great pleasure in clearing another little
bit of my garden and planting some new plants, quite often stolen from my friend’s garden (with permission of course!).
I love a Sunday afternoon gardening session followed by a hot bath and a well deserved glass of wine with dinner!
That sounds absolutely perfect, Lydia! Elaine here, and you’re right, there is always a frisson of expectation when you add new plants to your garden. Laura is the Growbag most likely to succumb to siren call of buying new plants when she hasn’t any room for the ones she’s already got. But every gardener feels the urge to try out new things sometimes, don’t they? And what a moment it is, when you find out that you DID find the right spot for them and they start to thrive! Have a lovely gardening year.
When Caroline is down visiting MacPlants and Binny she’d be very welcome to visit us at South Flisk, Blebo Craigs near Cupar, Fife. We have big, rambling garden on several levels and a quarry pond. I’d welcome any suggestions she has about planting here.
Sitting on a bench in the sun,coffee to hand whilst podding the first of the broad bean crop.
How peaceful that sounds, Sally! Elaine here, and sometimes the simplest tasks bring the most pleasure don’t they. My broad beans haven’t started podding up yet, but I did get them in the ground quite late this year – I expect they’ll catch up okay. Thank you for writing in with that lovely image, and can we 3Growbags wish you a smashing gardening summer.
Oooh Julia I’ve seen videos of your magical garden at South Flisk – you definitely do NOT need ANY suggestions from me (in fact my sisters can’t imagine anyone at all who might need my gardening advice – so rude). You’ve created a really beautiful woodland garden. Since moving back north I’m not often in Fife, but if I am I’d simply love to visit. Kindest regards (and awe) Caroline
I remember your cranberry cordials from years gone by Caroline. It was so beautiful it became my must have, and did, but didn’t transplant to Cornwall well. So must get another… BTW, can grow meconopsis here!!
Frances that’s exciting to hear – the benefits we both enjoy from living on the peripheries. I was thinking that cranberry cordials sounded very healthy-living for me, but then I realised spellcheck had struck again – you mean crambe cordifolia don’t you! Yes they have a a big tap root dont they, so don’t enjoy being moved very much. Definitely get another one though, I can imagine their drama would suit your Cornish garden very well!
Very best wishes to you both