Waiting for go-dough
If you read Digging regularly, you know that I’m starting over with a new garden at a new house in Austin this winter. You may also know that I have a garden design business for do-it-yourselfers, and I’m always advising clients to pace themselves with a new garden, not to expect to get it all done at once but to work on little pieces of their plan as their budget and energy allow.
This is really hard advice to follow. Doh!
These are pictures of problem areas, or just bare areas, in my new yard. They obsess me.
I had an established garden at my last house, and, by golly, I want another one right now. I have a vision for my new yard, and I want the budget, RIGHT NOW, to start implementing it. I feel like Veruca Salt in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, who demands, “I want it now!” Not good.
It’s hard to wait. I didn’t think it would be, as gardening is all about waiting. We wait for spring to arrive after a cold or quiet winter. We wait for new plants to mature into the fine specimens we envisioned when we planted them. We wait for inspiration to strike so that we are energized to tackle a new section of the garden. Gardening keeps you busy, but it also teaches you to wait.
Still, I find that I’m not feeling very patient right now. I have a new bit of earth to play in. But for now the planting budget is nil. The hardscaping budget is nil. I tell myself this is good so that I can really think about what I want to do here. I know this to be true.
And yet—I want to plant and create right now.
I know that you all know what I’m talking about. What are you waiting for in your garden right now, aside from spring?
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
What? Spring can’t be our answer? Okay, I’m waiting for the first crocus to bloom, and I’m waiting to once and for all dig up a big flower bed on the west side of my fence in the back. So many ideas, just lack the time to do them!
Oh, you snuck in spring with that crocus, didn’t you, Carol? I’m intrigued by the idea of your big flower bed though. Yes, lack of time is always a factor. Down here, winter vacations are a great time to install new beds. But that doesn’t work so well when your garden is snowed under, I suppose. —Pam
It is so hard to wait isn’t it? I’m having to wait on getting some important things done on the inside of the house and on the outside I’m waiting for my small trees and shrubs to mature. The budget only allowed for small specimens and I want them to grow faster! I’m also waiting until it’s time to winter sow. I’ve got lots of seeds waiting to be planted!
Sowing seeds is a budget-conscious way to start a new garden. I’m going to be relying on seeds too this year. —Pam
Ooh, I know how you feel. I’m mostly waiting on more of a planting budget, but I guess that means I need to get a job first. 🙂 I’m also waiting for some really talented person to finish my fence (I put only part of it up and then the carpenters got full time jobs elsewhere). I’m also waiting for more trees, more shrubs, less lawn, perfect planting days, and the energy to see all of this through. That’s not too much to ask, is it??
Wish lists don’t have limits, Jean. Keep on dreaming. Sooner or later we’ll find ways to make them come true. —Pam
waiting for? home grown strawberries
wishing for? the back garden to magically be put in, and the ‘dirt patch’ to be re-purposed.
Maybe wishing for is a better way to put it. But “waiting for” makes me believe it will actually happen one day. I wouldn’t hold my breath for magic, but I bet you can make that back garden and repurposed dirt patch happen eventually, Katina. Good luck! —Pam
I sure do understand Pam and I’m wishing you the best. If our backs and money will hold out, we’ll have a pretty good spring showing. Sending hugs your way.
I think this experience will remind you how your clients feel, when they want the change NOW. Maybe you will introduce new service i.e. ‘fast makeover from nil to galore’. This is real fun to watch you thinking of changes and making them 🙂
BTW ha ha – just saw Willy Wonka again 2 days ago.
Greetings,
Ewa
I (or should I say my Mum) came up with a master plan yesterday of how to deal with my slopping and slippery back lawn. However this will mean digging up lawn (always a good thing in my opinion), building a level path, removing a small patio and digging more borders (fab). I was awake until 3am last night thinking it all through right down to moving what plant where. I cant start the work yet though as we have to plan it properly (boring) and my Dad hasnt any time at the moment to help me. Very fustrating!!!!
Pam, I got all excited by your pictures! It is great to see all the areas that you have to plant and to know that you will share it with us. Thank you Pam for some great posts and patiently waiting for all those to come as you make this garden special. These areas suggest so many possibilities but I know you will pick the best ones for the site and surprise us. I think the waiting will be fun!
Best wishes and a happy new year Sylvia
Hi Pam, I went back to the light shows in Austin, awesome, and your hubby’s distress, awful!, after reading about your waiting game in the garden. You have had some ups and downs over the holidays! Having to wait means you have time to make some drawings though. Get creative, use colored pencils and plant catalogs and remember…have fun! 🙂
Frances
Oh, man, I know exactly what you mean. My front yard is half landscaped right now and the pile of mulch in my driveway is almost five feet high and it looks like a mess. But alas, until I have the funds and time to rent some machinery to do some drainage work, it’s going to continue to look like crap and drive me nuts (and I’m sure the next door neighbors are thrilled with this, what with their house still being on the market and all). But I’m working hard on the money front– I have had one day off since December 17th, and that was Christmas Day!
May we all find ourselves with plenty of money for gardening in 2009!
P.S. I’m very glad that your husband’s appendicitis was diagnosed in time.
Hi Pam, I think you’ve made a great start in your new garden, yet I can sure understand how hard it is waiting to get it all done the way you want it.
At the moment I’m waiting for my husband to agree to rip out our 1960’s overgrown foundation planting of mostly yews and burning bushes. So far after five years he’s finally agreed to cut back the burning bushes that blocked our living room window at over 6′ tall. They’ve been pruned very hard, and the jury’s still out on whether they’ll recover. (I hope they don’t.) It’s not easy moving into a spouse’s already-established, cherished home, bought before we ever met, especially one he’s so attached to as it is/(was). I see things through different eyes and there’s much I’d like to change, both inside and out. It’s been quite an ongoing adjustment, learning experience, and exercise in patience, tact, discretion, compromise, and often, acceptance of what is to see this long-time bachelor pad as OUR home.
I’m still waiting for the right moment to get rid of my trampoline. (Anyone have any thoughts about how you sneak a trampoline out of the garden singlehanded without your teenage kids noticing?) Then I’m going to replant the area around it as a kind of keyhole bed, with a space in the middle for a steamer chair, or a hammock. If I’m planning changes in the garden, I can have hours of fun with a few bamboo canes, or a garden hose, marking off new beds, or features or whatever. And that costs absolutely nothing.
I know you’ll get your garden underway soon, Pam, because it sounds like that’s the sort of person you are. In the meantime, a very happy new year to you and your husband!
I am waiting for spring to guide me to my garden desires. My mind isn’t in the garden as yet. There are always choress to do. Plants I want. Items I want. Hmmmmm It seems I have the “I wants” more than “waiting”. Maybe that is what I am waiting for, the “I wants”.
As a professional, it is good that you coach your clients into the best ways to tackle their landscape, making sure they know the rules. However, as a professional you know it is OK to break those rules in your own garden.
Pam, trust me, no one knows more about wanting a new garden “right now†better than Jamie and I do. I feel for you, girl! Fortunately, we were able to pretty much do it. What am I waiting for? I want my trees to grow over night! And, I’m waiting for some good weather and incentive to get out there and start digging on that new bed.
PS– There isn’t a single thing wrong with posting a wish list you know! I’m sure you have helped lots of people in the past and been very generous.:-)
I always tell people to wait until you know what you have. Spring will do that for you……take your time. Dream a little…dream a lot….knowing how you will use the spaces is always a big one. You have to live there a while to know what works and what doesn’t.
Having built this house in 2005, I absolutely, positively understand wanting a mature garden. My garden was planted too quickly. In only three years, I have had too many “do overs” for a new garden. I feel like almost every plant in my garden has been moved at least twice! I still want to move more around.
However (a little finger pointing here) it wasn’t me who wanted all that planted so quickly. I love to dawdle in the garden. I can spend hours staring at 10 square feet and come back another day to plant it. My husband is a person who thinks a project is started and finished in one day and encouraged truckloads of plants all at once. So, I would get exhausted and just plunk a plant in anywhere, just to get it in the ground. It really takes the fun out of the planting to do the extreme gardening thing!
So, enjoy moving slowly. Savor the activity rather than rush to result.
Cameron
I am waiting right now Pam! It is difficult…Plant, plant, plant is the Siren call of the Wayback now that it is clear! No budget or plan, yet!
But soon! gail
Oh, that would be Spring. Wait, we can’t say Spring? But, it’s Spring! 🙂
I’m in the same boat as you, trying to force myself to tackle just one part of the garden at a time. And frankly, I haven’t been able to stick to it 100%. But, as hard at it is to wait for time/money/energy/etc.., to finish the whole thing, I truly regret tearing into areas where I wasn’t ready. Now I have 1/2 done projects that make the garden look a huge mess. Looking back on old photos, the original garden was bare and made me nuts, but it still looked better than the mess. For what it’s worth.
~Angela 🙂
Oops — meant to include my new garden link in my comment. This is my new home.
~Angela 🙂
Waiting for: rain, money, and inspiration for my problem areas! It’s nice to know that you and fellow gardeners share the “hurry up, but must wait” syndrome. And, heck, what would be the fun if we were really all finished? Linda
While I’ll have to wait a bit longer for more hardscape and some of the reworking we need to do, right now, I’m anxiously awating the rest of the shelves in my new shed, so I can move stuff in there! Garden Man just got back with the rest of the wood, so I’m hoping by Friday . . . . . .
This was a great post!
I love the reflection on 2008~ Especially the photo of the green lizard in the agave! That is wonderful. Thank you again for putting together and bringing together all of us at Spring Fling. I have made so many new friends this year, thanks to your efforts. See you in Chicago!
I’ve been here at Squirrelhaven for almost 16 years, and I’m still not done. I’ve got to do something about camoflaging the utility boxes in the front lawn. I’m just now tackling the area between ours and the neighbors’ driveway. I’m waiting for inspiration before I try anything around those boxes.
Take a long breath my friend and close your eyes. You can probably “see” how your garden will look. Next summer, I will come visit if you’ll have me. As for my own, I have a very large witch hazel sitting in a pot in my driveway. The other day my mother asked me if I was ever going to plant it. I don’t know where it’s supposed to go. 🙂 ~~Dee
I’m waiting for the garden budget to get bigger and for my kids to start begging me to let them do all the digging and hauling. But really, it’s good for you to be your own client for a while, and learn to wait. You’ll be more sympathetic to your clients, and perhaps come up with coping strategies you can suggest to them.
If misery loves company, then impatience does too. Thanks for sharing with me what you’re waiting for in the garden. It’s part of the dreaming process, which is a very necessary part of making a garden. I wish I had time to respond to each of your comments, but know that I’m grateful for them and appreciative of your encouragement and perspectives. —Pam
Oh, I SO know what you feel. I have a fenceline desperately in need of a new bed, and a walkway that needs new edging. And I want a new sunny bed in the front, which would finally allow me to grow some sunny plants that I can’t have in my backyard. Sigh, with last year’s budget overblown with new fence and new sprinkler system and several new beds, and now about to embark on a kitchen remodel following a leaking faucet catastrophe, my garden budget is also nil. Seeds are sounding really good right now for me, too.
I’m in the almost the same place as you. Getting a new home (won’t be moving in till mayish). I already know when I move in there will be no money to devote to the garden. Luckily I have seeds and a prop cart to start something. There will be so much for us to purchase like a mower, hoses and sprinklers, a fridge, and my help in paying for the monthly payments. There are so many ideas in my head that I would love to get started right now, but they’ll be in my head for almost another half year or even longer with little money to spare. What beautiful yard you do have and I just can’t wait to see what you do with it. I’m love seeing gardens transform!
You’ll hate me for writing this, but I’m waiting for sweet corn and tomatoes! And I’m waiting for Council to pass our development modifications. My garden is almost entirely on hold until we build our extension. I can’t wait to hear your plans for each area you’ve photographed!
I am happy to be waiting…for the moment. I love the time available for reading and perusing the seed and plant catalogs and just hibernating. This too shall pass, I know. I can’t wait to see your landscape unfold. Next garden for me will be the ‘Garden of Death’ containing all poisonous plants or the blue and white garden. Which will win out will depend on the mood.
What a wonderful tour from the past year !
Oh so true…we want it all now. But then there would be no more big surprises.
New beds are so exciting,I hope I’m never done.
Happy New Year.
Well, it would be pretty painful – leaving that established garden, and starting a new one. I live on an acre – and it’s been a long and slow process (I’ve yet to budget what I need to for hardscapes) – but now I have a nice collection of established plants, the ‘skeleton’ of a garden I suppose. But a garden is never ‘done’, is it? So in a sense yours holds so much promise right now – so enjoy dreaming about what it will become.
The list is too long Pam!!