Spring”ing” Into Action

As winter melts into its final weeks, my cabin fever really starts to get the best of me, especially when those wonderful treats show up in the mail. What are those treats you ask? My lifetime tickets to the local flower and patio show, and my seed catalogs.

To tell you the truth, I like to pretend that I can garden a lot better than what I actually do. Compared to others, I am an extreme amateur; while some plants in the garden explode with fruits or flowers (my two habanero plants produced well over 200 or so peppers, and we couldn’t keep up with eating the cucumbers), other greenery didn’t fair so well (my roses didn’t even flower this year, which was highly unusual). I also have a tendency to dream big and plan big, then chicken out when I start to price how much my dreams will cost, or when I realize how much effort it will actually take to get everything completed. Basically, I’m overly frugal, impatient, overly optimistic and a bit lazy, which when combined with a big imagination, is not the best mix.

Knowing my faults and my passions, I’m trying to do better this year. Planning things out with phases in mind, and looking for plants and products that make spending-sense over the long run. It will be a bit of a struggle, especially since I also suffer from “Ooo, shiny!” syndrome (NEVER take me shopping in a hardware, housewares, or bookstore store – you’ll have to drag me out kicking and screaming), but this year, I will do my best to be strong.

I’ve decided to take a different approach to gardening and landscaping this year. Normally, when it comes to the yard, I just dream up projects, then start throwing it all together; sometimes it works, other times not so much. This year, my approach will be similar to what I do with my first two steps in Spring Cleaning: Make a Master List, and Take It One-Step-At-A-Time.

As much as I would like to jump right into expanding planting beds and planting anything I can get my hands on, there is realization that there are some critical projects that need to be tackled first. The Master List will keep my mind on the budget and those critical projects before I get into the fun stuff. For example – the deck; while still structurally sound, it really needs a facelift, so before I look for pretty flowers for the railing boxes, I should really give the deck a solid pressure wash, replace the warped railing, and replace the deck boards that I burned holes in one year, rather than continue to hide them under the grill mat (it’s a long story, but always make certain to close the bottom vents of your charcoal grill once you’re done cooking).

The Master List will also help considerably when working out the phases of the complete garden project. Critical tasks should always be tackled before aesthetic-only items. By sorting the various Master-List tasks into phases, projects can be completed with greater efficiency, leaving more time to actually enjoy the fruits of labor rather than spending time making something look nice only to have to pull it apart to repair something else.

So, in order to keep myself accountable, I’m going to share my master list with the universe… here are some highlights (let’s check back in with each other come summer).

The Master List: Garden & Landscape Edition

• The Backyard
  • Critical Projects
    • Deck
      • Replace burned boards
      • Replace warped handrails
      • Power wash
      • Paint door trim
    • Storage Area
      • Fix Gate/Replace hardware
      • Find solution to muddy patch at gate
    • Edible Garden
      • Mix in groundcover & more organic soil
      • Replace garden hoses
      • Clean and sharpen hoes, pruners, etc.
  • Non-Critical Projects
    • Expand edible garden beds
    • Replace base/repair serving cart
    • Paint deck chairs and repaint plant stand
• The Front Yard
  • Critical
    • Eradicate Japanese Honeysuckle
    • Prune roses, sand cherries, and barberry bushes
    • Divide daylilies (expand beds to accommodate)
  • Non-Critical
    • Expand wild bird area around tree
    • Add step-stone or walkway beside driveway
    • Add lavender border to sidewalk