katduarte

Every year I imagine myself as a woman of leisure sitting out on the deck with an ice tea and basking in the serenity of nature.  Just chilling out on those first days of warm weather, you know?  But in reality, I spend every year digging, planting and starting new ambitious yard projects.  Ah, yes, my gardens are a work in progress.  I just need to reconcile myself to the fact that  they always will be…until I learn not to go browsing through greenhouses and the garden sections of home improvement stores.

Last fall, I found a great sale on novelty tulip bulbs and added them to my flower beds on a very chilly day in the beginning of October, working until the daylight failed, then scurrying inside for a hot shower to warm up.  I must say the effort was well worth it though.  This spring, my flower beds are bursting with new color.  My new favorites are the double red tulips – so full of petals they look like roses.  With bright blue grape hyacinth in front of them, they really pop out against the green lawn.

Encouraged by this new development, I couldn’t wait to add more  and bigger flowering plants to the landscape, so I bought two lilac bushes.  That was two weeks ago and I’ve only managed to plant one so far.  Am I lazy?  No.  Well, a bit.  In my defense, you need to understand how hard it is to dig a hole in my backyard.  The soil is mostly clay, so it takes a lot of effort to dig.  Then, of course, I need to haul in the more garden-friendly bags of soil to fill in around the new shrub.  Oh, and did I mention the sheer pigheadedness it takes to dig up the grass and uncover the dirt to begin with?

I know all the effort will be worth it.  The bush I’ve planted is already getting some of those lovely, fragrant spears of lilacs on it and has grown about three inches taller.  Next year, I’ll have even more flowers and the start of a shrub hedge to block the nasty old telephone pole that stands outside my fence in that corner of the yard.

Have  I stopped at that one, as yet unfinished project though?  Of course not.  On my trip out to buy more soil to plant the second lilac bush, I found the most beautiful stepping stones and decided to build a curving path up to my front door.  I’ve spent two trips so far to haul the stones from the store in my little four door sedan.  Next comes the digging, leveling, hauling of sand and then I’ll be able to place the stones and create the path.  I’ve also realized that the path will call more attention to my front porch, which needs to have the wood stained again.  I’m tempted to change the style of the post caps, too. There are some really great, stained glass-look cappers at Home Depot, but those aren’t cheap.  There goes the budget.  And my leisure-lounging-around-on-the-back-porch time.

At least, I’ll get outdoors and burn off a few calories!  One list I’ve found states that planting shrubs burns 306 calories per hour.  That’s comforting…and maybe an excuse to get a few more lilac bushes.

To check out more calorie burning garden tasks check out the Lawn & Garden section at  Calorie Count

Happy gardening, everyone!