Of the several repetitive garden chores I was responsible for as a teenager are never-ending Sisyphean tasks I swore I would not do when I grew up, three in particular irritated me: Mowing grass, hoeing garden rows, and shlepping potted plants indoors and out.
I’ve dropped two, by gardening in small raised beds planted thickly instead of row-cropping and mulched to keep weeds at bay; and losing the lawn.
I do move some tropical plants indoors and out, in spite of resenting the back-breaking chore of shlepping my mother’s cherished bird of paradise whose redwood planter was too much for her,. Thankfully, hers had a little wheeled platform which made getting it to the door easier, but I still had to lift it all through the door and up and down porch steps.
Now, though I leave some large indoors-tolerant plants including my prize dracaena indoors year-round, I still find myself having to haul in and out a couple dozen plant pets of my own, including a handful of big ‘uns for which I don’t have a little Felder to help with. I had already put them out once last month to get some fresh air, a good soaking, and dusting with the hose. But they had to be brought back in during our late Blackberry Winter cold snap.
They are back out again for the duration, and have been groomed of fading old leaves and dead stems, a bit of fresh potting soil where needed, and a season-long dose of slow-release potted plant fertilizer which feeds a little every time I water. I also covered the soil with mulch to keep the sun from wicking potting soil dry.
They were messy indoors, but over the years I learned an easy way to keep the weeping fig, hibiscus, and bougainvillea vine from getting overgrown while reducing the incredible leaf litter they shed every time they plants get moved. I bite the bullet and prune them to look like leggy bare hat racks before bringing them in, which both removes the leaves before they can shed and also stimulates strong new growth that is better adapted to indoors. The visual anguish of having naked plants in pots for two or three weeks is offset by the benefits, and they quickly sprout out better than ever. Without the mess.
By the way, I also prune those plants when setting them back out, because the winter growth is usually leggy and weak; the new growth only takes a couple of weeks, and it is stronger and better blooming.
The other main chore I most resented as a kid was our “mow what grows” flower lawn with clover and dandelions. Couldn’t go swimming til the grass got cut, and back then we just had a push mower. Ugh.
So it’s no wonder that the grownup me, in spite of being a trained lawn consultant, doesn’t have a lawn at all; luckily, I garden on a small city lot where it is easy to have shrub and flower beds, and scattered small decks and flagstone areas connected with walks. Had I a larger landscape I would deliberately have two kinds of lawn: a small, well-maintained throw rug size area like a golf course putting green that can easily be mowed, edged, watered, fertilized, and weeded, set amidst a larger flowery “fairway” that only gets mowed as needed and that’s all. I see this a lot in England, where the contrast looks great while reducing the lawn maintenance chores.
Not all childhood chores are grownup must-does; some, either wisely or lazily, I learned to garden without.
Felder Rushing is a Mississippi author, columnist, and host of the “Gestalt Gardener” on MPB Think Radio. Email gardening questions to rushingfelder@yahoo.com.
