WARNING: GARDENER’S DISCRETION ADVISED – SOME IMAGES MAY BE TOO GRAPHIC FOR TIDY GARDENERS – VIEW AT YOUR OWN RISK
There was a time when I took great pride in the appearance of my gardens, making sure to pluck each weed and nurture each plant to it’s prime.
Then along came a handsome man who stole my heart away. I began to spend my free time with him riding bikes along the trails of Minnesota, attempting to master the sport of golf, and generally just having a great time hanging out with that wonderful, kind, humorous soul who eventually became my fiance’.
My gardens started to lose their closely tended appearance. An occasional spear of quack-grass poked through the decomposing layers of mulch. Soon there were patches of grass and thistle poking through and threatening to choke out those precious perennials.
Then on a fateful day in September, 2008 that handsome man was late to arrive at work. When I went looking for him, I discovered him lying on his kitchen floor, unable to move his left side. It was the second time in my life that I’ve called 911 in a panic (I’ll write about the first another time).
That fateful day changed our lives forever. A stroke had immobilized my big, wonderful, hunk of a man. It would take three months of in-house exhaustive therapy to get him back on his feet. Caring and nurturing the gardens at my house stopped that September day, as I turned my attention to the care and recovery of my soul-mate. (Click Here to learn about signs of stroke).
Two weeks ago I began the clean-up of what becomes of gardens that have suffered two years of neglect. My daughter accompanied me and photographed the gardens while I began to weed and mulch one garden at a time. My goal is to have each of the gardens back in shape by the end of the summer. As you can see, I have my work cut out for me.
These photos were taken by my daughter Heidi, as I began the “Garden Rescue Project.”
CLICK HERE to see the neglected gardens (view at your own risk).
A pull-behind sled makes a great container when you’re harvesting YARDS of weeds.
That evening, after several hours of intense weeding and mulching, one of the gardens began to start to look like a garden instead of a weed patch.
Thankfully, the company that I work for allows a flexible summer schedule so I’ll have Fridays off to tend my neglected gardens. If all goes as planned what currently looks like this:
Will be on track to look like this again (in a year or two):
