If you have been living in the city for the past several years, and you have just bought a house in the country, then you might be in for a bit of a shock. You see, gardening is not always as easy as all that, especially if you have some unexpected visitors.
A Biblical Plague of Weeds
It begins with a few green saplings, here and there, easily removed. Then more appear, and more still, until de weeding starts to become akin to a game of whack a mole. Before long, you get the strong sense that these weeds are growing before your very eyes, faster than you can uproot them. You even resort to weed killer and succeed in clearing some of the damn things out, and then watch in horror over the next few days as all your flowers start to wither and die, and all the necessary insects and birds start to avoid your garden. Filling your garden with ground cover and plants you want will reduce the number of weeds you get. Plus, sometimes if you let them flower, they can be quite pretty.
Dread Creature Abominations
Monsters, like slugs, squirm out of the darkness and attack your sunflowers and leave devastation in their wake, as they are creatures of nightmarish intent that will stop at nothing to munch upon your prize vegetables. Nonsense, if the minibeasts in your garden really bother you then research companion planting – you can keep them away from your vegetables by planting flower nearby, either as sacrificial offerings or to attract the insects that will eat the pests. There are other creatures too, like your dog, who will just not stop digging up the lawn, or feline beasts from the shadows, that infest said lawn with droppings. Occasionally, wildlife can be seen as well, such as foxes or racoons knocking over the bins in the night and making you think that you’re being burgled. Roll your eyes to the sky and try to enjoy the excitement of seeing what your garden attracts.
Acts of God
It’s not just your plants that are in the firing line. Storms can wreak havoc on trees and external structures you once thought impervious to harm, bringing them down – causing upset from their loss and potentially further damage as they fall on and destroy or weaken other parts of your garden. Having a company handy who are experts in deck and fence repair work will take away some of the worry for your garden and security when a big storm is forecast. You can help your plants and trees by doing some storm maintenance like tying up and protecting vulnerable plants and removing dead branches from trees – so the storm cannot rip these off, causing damage to the plant and gaining a projectile.
All Worth it In the End
Eventually, you sit down, drink in hand and let someone else handle the barbecue. You look around as the sun shines through the treetops, illuminating your masterpiece to your party guests. You have somewhere calming, away from the world and all it’s stresses. After a while the gardening bug will get you and you won’t even notice that you rarely sit down in your garden and instead spend the time clipping, pruning and weeding. There’s always something to be done, but it’s a joy not a chore.
