Becoming a Gardner

This afternoon I attacked the garden. Now that my Dad's moved out it's kinda on me to keep the house and garden in order. The house is no problem. But the garden is another matter entirely!

Mum was always the gardener in the family and would spend hours in the garden every weekend. She was always finding new places to dig up and plant stuff. When she left, if all fell to my Dad to look after. And while I didn't really notice him doing it to much, he must have, because now that it's all my responsibility I'm noticing how LARGE the garden really is! It goes for miiiiiillllessssss. Ok, maybe not miles, but it's pretty large!

Today I cut out all the dead agapantha flowers, de-weeded the side of the driveway, pulled out all the overgrown daisies, cut back a rather large and overbearing flower/shrub that was growing outside my window and pulled out all the plants in long plant box so that the lillies could grow properly. And after doing all this I can still see that there is sooo much more to go. But, perhaps if I do a little bit each weekend I'll get there eventually.

One can't help but consider that as soon as one is "done" gardening the garden, it will just be time to start all over again. *sigh*

Oh and did I mention that I get bad hayfever?! So, everytime I get in the garden it come out with rashes and sneezing and scratches that last for days.

In saying all of this, there is something strangely satisfying about gardening. It really does take a lot of effort and energy to garden, and at the end of the day you can see where you've tidied and de-weeded and trimmed, making it just a little more beautiful.
And, I have 2 lemon trees, a feijoa tree and walnut tree. There's nothing like having fresh fruit and nuts right from the garden!

Here are some pics of my garden. Not taken today, but over the last few months.