The Imperfect Gardener

by Adina Sara

I'm not cautious when it comes to gardening. I leap right out there, with or without a tool in hand. I rarely wear proper shoes and have ruined more than one pair by tromping through mud. Eager to get out there, I have ruined perfectly good clothes by getting too close to dirt, rose bushes, and the like.

I lose sight of logic when I work in the garden. If something needs pulling and there's no trowel around, I use fingers, arms, every muscle I can muster, rather than hunt around for clippers or pick. Eventually, I succumb to appropriate tools, but there's an excitement I feel when I'm working that often trumps my better judgment.

Like last month, when I decided to lay landscape pavers along a 30-ft stretch of walkway. If that wasn't enough, I then spread heavy sacks of mulch between them. All day I lifted and dug and slung and lifted some more. Such exhilaration! Such stupidity!

Next day (big surprise), my back went out. For the next five days I was either curled over like a sausage or flat on the floor, an ice pack nestled gently below my waist.

And so, after decades of gardening exuberance, I have discovered humility, crouched between the concrete pavers and ungainly sacks of mulch. I was lucky. I crept back to normality in a week, starting off small by clipping only waist-high plants so I didn't have to stoop. I took my time setting out thyme plants and managed to unravel the watering hose without pulling any muscles. Even snuck a few radishes into the ground, gently replenishing the vegetable supply. Didn't so much as think about lifting rocks just looked for light and easy things to do. Fallen leaves and brittle twigs provided me with endless options.

Much as I hate to admit it, I am a bit older than I was 25 years ago. I can't lug around large heavy objects all day. I need to readjust my wild and unorthodox gardening habits. I need to grab not only a trowel and clippers, but knee pads and weed pail, so I don't have to stoop over twice to pick things up. I need to pay attention when I sit down in a flower bed, arrange my legs and arms and back with intention so that when I lean over to dislocate an unwanted root ball, my own root system will remain intact.

Every day in the garden I discover something new to appreciate maybe a new plant discovered, or the awareness that it is possible to have too many geraniums, and not nearly enough freesias. Maybe by clipping back a few branches of tree, more afternoon light is revealed.

And maybe by remembering to treat myself as well as I try to treat my plants, we can grow old together.

At the Metro Garden Club's fall plant swap, seeds, seedlings, and cuttings were exchanged, and one person swapped a small tree. E-mail themetrogardenclub\@yahoogroups.com to become part of this vibrant garden community.