You get a phone call from people you do not know who are in the area and would like to visit your garden.
You were not expecting visitors and the garden is not in the shape you would like it to be before you show it to unknown gardeners. You only have a few hours to make the garden presentable.
What do you consider the most important jobs you first have to tackle since you do not have time to do everything you would ideally want to do?
1. The first and probably the most obvious thing to do is to mow the lawn, if you have a lawn, or mow the paths if they are grassed over. A freshly mowed area goes a long way to make a garden look more attractive.
2. You might think the next thing is to do some weeding but in fact weeding is a fair bit lower on the list. One job as important as mowing the lawn is taking care of edges. Whether your plants spill over the edges of beds or are well tucked in, a clear distinction between paved areas or paths and growing areas seems to have a very strong impact on the viewer's assessment of your garden. What ever the style of the garden, clear edges make a big difference.
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| Importance of clear edges |
3. Next, if the alleys or patio are graveled, they should be raked.
4. Then, if you have a paved patio, you should sweep it. If the garden visitors are coming on a bright sunny day, you can hose it down before they are due to arrive. It makes things look fresher and cooler and the surrounding plants perk up.
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| Not a patio, not in summer, but it shows the mirror quality of wet paved surfaces |
5. The next thing is to reassess any pots of bright annuals you might have to make sure they are in the best spots. The advantage of pots is that you can move them around. Moving them allows you to either direct people's attention away from dull areas or to have them focus on a specific spot. It is always useful to have a couple of such pots on hand to be able to move them to strategic places when need be. Provided they are not too heavy, a large empty pot or even a birdbath can be used the same way.
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| A pot used to focus attention |
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| Even with no bloom, a pot can add some pizzazz to a dull area |
Given that we all have different gardens, job priorities might vary from one garden to the next. It would be useful for all of us to know what job you would tackle first in your own garden.
Weed! Also pick up random plant labels lying around the garden.
ReplyDeleteJason, while weeding is always good,I find that if your time is limited, it does not make a noticeable difference.
DeleteUseful advice Alain. If it's a nice day and we're going to sit outside I would spend an hour on the borders nearest the seating area, deadheading especially... people are going to have more time to study it in detail!
ReplyDeleteExcellent suggestion. I am not very good at deadheading. I should pay more attention to it.
DeleteÊtes-vous toujours en Europe? Quand rentrez-vous au Canada? Au retour, si vous passez par Ottawa, la porte vous est ouverte ici.
ReplyDeleteNous sommes revenus le premier février. Nous espérons toujours aller te voir un de ces jours!
DeleteA useful check list Alain. My wife chastises me for making zero preparation for visitors! Not quite true and for me lawn edges make a huge difference.
ReplyDeleteI also ought to do more raking of debris!
I find that for many gardeners edges are not a priority when in fact they have a much greater impact than you would think.
DeleteI would say that if you come uninvited, the 'what you see is what you get'!
ReplyDeleteA little tweaking can sometime make a big difference.
DeleteHello Alain, considering our garden is very far from finished, there's not much else I can do apart from perhaps sweep the patio. Visitors will be welcomed by borders covered in polythene, large piles of garden rubbish and bulk bags of compost and manure. I may as well leave the "under construction" sign out as that's exactly what the garden is.
ReplyDeleteSunil, even if the garden is obviously "under construction", I am sure its "capabilities" can be appreciated.
DeleteWell, I don't have to worry about anybody coming to see my garden, but I still have to do the same thing to keep my yard in respectable condition.
ReplyDeleteI think mowing the lawn and edging would be my priority too but not at the moment as its very soggy.
ReplyDeleteHere there is less snow than usual but it is a typical winter day - very cold, dry and sunny.
ReplyDeleteSorry Alain, although I fully appreciate the beauty of well tended gardens, they would have to take the garden as it comes, I am a plantsman really and what matters to me are the plants themselves which would be my own and hopefully my visitors' point of interest, if not I would wish they hadn't bothered.
ReplyDelete