Refresh Yourself and Your Garden

Bonnie Nowicki

Time passes quickly when you are engrossed with tending your personal garden. Whether it be planting your newest acquisition, trimming dried palm fronds, or sweeping the driveway of pollen and pods from your mesquite tree, you are engaging with nature. That’s a good thing, and it should be invigorating. Your landscape is a reflection of you and your preferences—quirks and all. Even necessary chores are progress. Take heart and stay positive. Every growing season offers us another chance to experiment or delight in a new purchase.

Perhaps you want to add colorful annuals to a particular bed or create a special seating area with a unique bench. Garden ideas are unlimited. Investing your time and talents is a worthwhile adventure. It soothes the soul. Listen to the chirping birds and smell the flowers. Sometimes there’s disappointment when our brutal Arizona heat is unyielding and takes a prized plant, or we miscalculate with watering or pruning. Don’t be discouraged. Hopefully, we learn from those mishaps. Imperfect nature allows us to express ourselves, without judging. Feel refreshed and energized and plan for another day.

Here are some suggestions for refreshing your landscape: First, reorganize and clean your tools and wash your gloves. Then think vertical. Small yards, patios, or walls may benefit from vertical plantings. With a bit of creative thinking, you can maximize those spaces with a trellis or arbor and a beautiful vine. Resize and prune existing shrubs and refresh the plant beds with additional stone or mulch. Multiply perennials that grow best for you. Check your plants for heat stress and cover with shade cloth if necessary.

Embrace the fact, we gardeners are part of nature. Our landscapes are works in progress—forever changing. We are fortunate to live in a land of unlimited sunshine, so let’s bloom where we are planted!