The Woodlands Garden Club

Gardening Friends,

Learned that a good gardening excuse has unlimited value. It can help gloss over those flaws in your design scheme by turning attention somewhere else. For instance, a neighbor spots a weed at home in your border. Exclaim with much enthusiasm, “Oh, look at the wildflower!” Then comment on the superb growing conditions, fertile soil, etc., that caused this seed to sprout. Do all of this while ushering the neighbor to the lot line.

“I’m establishing a meadow,” when questioned about an unmown lawn. Use, “I believe in using a large amount of native plants,” or, “I’m trying to reconnect with the natural spirit of this property,” instead of trying to explain why the shrubs have not been trimmed.

“The deer ate it” works for a plant gift that died. No plant in your garden is really “dead,” just “experiencing premature dormancy.” If a plant has failed to grow like the catalog claims, you can explain this phenomenon by saying it is, “a new dwarf cultivar.” All plants with yellowing leaves are now considered “variegated varieties.”

All these little white lies might be tempting; however, gardens are ever evolving, not static. There will be times when the whole is not quite what you wish it to be. At othertimes you will wow the neighbors.

Above all, enjoy your garden. Along the pathways it is your work in progress.

Joyce Nelson