Spring Gardening by Wanda Loras
Gardening is good for the soul. My rewards are plentiful and varied. They come after many hours of planning, frustration, labor, sweat and forced patience. In the beginning the rewards from all the work is only the picture I imagine of what will be someday.
For new beds, my first step is to select the site for my bed and draw a diagram of what I want to plant. Next I send for a soil sample. While I am waiting for the soil sample results, I spray unwanted vegetation with roundup. I wait for a minimum of ten days before cultivation. The soil sample results include the ph of my soil along with what amendments if any are required. I then add these amendments along with three inches of compost and cultivate to a depth of six to eight inches. After I plant my flowers, bulbs, and shrubs I then add three inches of mulch to keep out the weeds, preserve moisture, and keep the roots at a more constant temperature. My active role in gardening is landscaping, but the bed I prepared is good for vegetables, herbs, shrubs, bulbs, perennials and annual flowers.
When the bulbs bloom they bring a whisper of spring in the cold of winter. I look out my window on a dreary cloudy winter day and see sunshine in the daffodils peeking out to say hello. The purple hyacinths stand bold against the cold north wind. The sight gives me a boost of energy and cheers me on for the rest of the day because now I know spring is not far away.
In winter, I especially enjoy watching the robins when they come to feast on the berries in the Yaupons and Hollies. They bring a little nostalgia to me because their skip walk reminds me of playing hop scotch when I was an adolescent
After hours of blood, sweat, and tears early on, spring arrives and my garden transforms into my own personal arboretum. The buds burst open into flowers and there is such an array of colors, shapes, and aromas that it takes my breath away. It just makes me feel good all over. It is rewarding to know I had a very small hand in this miracle from nature.
Now the garden gets really busy. The bees are pollinating the flowers. The birds are building nests among the inviting shrubs, vines and trees. The butterflies make their entrance. The humming birds start squabbling over the nectar from the flowers and blooming shrubs. There is truth to the saying, “Build it and they will come.”
Of course, you do not have to be a gardener to enjoy the rewards of gardening. Your neighbor may bring you some vine ripened tomatoes or as you drive down the road and see flowers cheerfully swaying in the breeze maybe just for that moment you identify with the wonders of nature and get the feeling that everything is going to be all right. These are the rewards I get from gardening.