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| Photo: Nancy Shepard |
Whether we are beginner gardeners or those with years of experience, the one thing we all share in common are the things we don’t want others to see. While I’ve never tried to achieve the look of Martha Stewart’s potting shed prepped for photos in her magazine, I am mortified by how my side yard looks:
· Piles of clay from all the soil amending I’ve done
· Sod removed when we put in a lawn walkway
· Too many pots that are cracked, too small, too fake terracotta looking and I keep telling myself I’ll use them one day
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| Photo: Nancy Shepard |
· Failed ideas I won’t admit to like a spinning copper sprinkler contraption
· Three types of tomato cages I never use
· Neglected compost bin
· Row covers I never put away
· My plant “nursery” where I try to propagate all manner of things that will probably not make it
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| Photo: Nancy Shepard |
· Neglected yard tools I fail to take care of (never mind that my boyfriend uses my garden trowels for mixing tile grout and cement)
It gets especially bad during the spring when I’m working so fast and hard that I don’t have time to put anything away. My side yard goes for weeks without cleanup yet I keep blaming it on not having a shed. I even tried giving things away by putting it on the front sidewalk with a FREE sign for a week. Nobody wanted the three-tiered neon orange plastic planter, the thin flimsy seed starter trays, or the rusted hand lawn shears that just needed some oiling.
And yet, it works for me. And my garden areas look very nice, tidy, and well-cared for. I just don’t want my guests to walk around to the side of the house to see the chaos that produces that beauty so, it will continue to remain hidden from view.
