{"id":249,"date":"2013-09-02T13:26:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-02T13:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bluelotuscreative.com\/glenvillagardens\/the-joy-of-weeding\/"},"modified":"2013-09-02T13:26:00","modified_gmt":"2013-09-02T13:26:00","slug":"the-joy-of-weeding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/the-joy-of-weeding\/","title":{"rendered":"The Joy of Weeding"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know that weeding is a chore, right?
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

We also know that a weed for one person is a flower for someone else. Or, as often expressed, it’s any plant growing where it isn’t wanted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Some people don’t like ajuga in the lawn.
\nI do.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Ralph Waldo Emerson said it better, describing a weed as \u00ab\u00a0a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.\u00a0\u00bb My favourite quotation about weeds, though, is Shakespeare’s contribution: \u00ab\u00a0Great weeds do grow apace.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

And indeed, they do. Or, at least, this summer they have.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A very weedy flagpole stream
\nwith an intriguing spot of red.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Generally, I’m not a neat and tidy person. I don’t have time to be, and most of the time don’t even want to be. I like genial chaos, as long as it’s not too<\/i>\u00a0chaotic. \u00a0But the border above is beyond geniality, even keeping in mind that it is a transitional border, marking the beginning of the trail that leads from the tended garden to wilder areas.<\/p>\n

Last week I decided enough was enough. After several weeks when I have been out of town or simply out of the garden, I took the time to weed. To cut off seed heads. To tidy up. And (horrible to acknowledge), I found that I enjoyed the job immensely.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
It was a nice sunny day, not too hot, with a gentle breeze. The garden was quiet and peaceful, and all alone I \u00a0could focus on what I was doing. There were no distractions. Bliss.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I enjoyed the physicality of weeding, despite knowing I’d suffer from an aching back. (I did. But it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.) I enjoyed the view up close of what I normally see from farther away. I enjoyed the smell of nepeta as I crushed the leaves and the dark odour of black dirt. And I revelled in the sense of virtue and satisfaction with a job well done.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
One of many piles. This one is mostly lady’s mantle and nepeta.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
The lady’s mantle that should have been cut back a month or more ago finally was. Ditto for the nepeta \u00ab\u00a0Six Hills Giant.\u00a0\u00bb\u00a0Comparing the before…<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lady’s mantle in the lower garden before the hair cut<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
with the after…<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Much neater, and almost tidy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
I am forced to acknowledge that I should have done the work weeks ago.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But delaying sometimes pays dividends. If I’d weeded that transitional border earlier in the month, I’d probably have pulled out the lobelia cardinalis that is blooming now.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
lobelia cardinalis in the flagpole stream, so called because
\n(wait for it) there is a stream with a flagpole nearby.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
I was delighted to find the lobelia. I started it from seed a few years ago and scattered several dozen plants in likely spots; it didn’t like my choices and instead has made its own. I’m happy with that. I’m less happy with the inula magnifica ‘Goliath’ that also blooms in the transitional border that I call the flagpole stream. (see caption above for the obvious explanation.) I started the inula from seed, too, in the years when I was teaching myself about plants. I don’t particularly like it but I can’t bring myself to get rid of it.\u00a0When it blooms, it adds a cheery touch of yellow that sparkles against the shaded space behind it. When it finishes blooming, I rush to remove the seed heads which I think are particularly ugly.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Inula ‘Goliath’ seed heads in the flagpole stream border<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This year I didn’t cut them off. And I found, to my surprise, that up close they aren’t ugly after all. Still not beautiful, not even particularly attractive but interesting and worth examining. They look like old-fashioned mop heads.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
This plant needs a haircut.
\nBut I like the messy tangled look.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

And on the subject of examining things:<\/p>\n

I’ve been writing this blog for just over six months now. I’ve written 38 posts covering a wide range of topics, and have been delighted by the warm and thoughtful responses I’ve received.<\/p>\n

I enjoy writing the blog and it seems that you enjoy reading it. With your help I’d like to make it better.<\/p>\n

To find out more about your interests, I’ve composed a simple survey. It should take only a few minutes to complete. To take the survey, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And many thanks for the feedback!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all know that weeding is a chore, right? We also know that a weed for one person is a flower for someone else. Or, as often expressed, it’s any plant growing where it isn’t wanted.   Some people don’t like ajuga in the lawn. I do. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it better, describing a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,82,21],"tags":[27,217,218,37,219,220,221,47,222,223,224,225],"class_list":["post-249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-glen-villa","category-miscellaneous-2","category-plants","tag-blog","tag-flagpole-stream","tag-garden-maintenance","tag-glen-villa","tag-inula-goliath","tag-ladys-mantle","tag-lobelia","tag-lower-garden","tag-nepeta","tag-seed-heads","tag-six-hills-giant","tag-weeding","category-38","category-82","category-21","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenvillaartgarden.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}