Gardening OCD…

It’s a slow news day in my little world. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, in some ways it’s good as there’s nothing burning inside me that has to be ranted, but in other ways it’s bad – I quite like the smell of smoke.

Increasingly though, and for no other reason than it is change around time in the garden, I find myself thinking ahead to the spring. I know, I know, we haven’t even got to winter yet, but as I mentioned I am determined to keep on top of my little gardens this year. You would think that with the sizes of my front and backyards that it would be easy to keep them in order. Well it should be, but the scale is small and therefore it needs to be even more perfect – at least in my mind and that is the problem.

I think I may be developing gardening OCD; turning into a full-blown all-year-round gardener and not the fair-weather one I have always been. I spent the weekend removing the conifer that had got too big for its boots in the backyard. I planted it twenty-five years ago as a twiglet and felt a little sad as I sawed off its thickly needled branches and dug up the sturdy stump. It had grown too big though, it was taking up space and light when both are at a premium ‘out back’ as I call it. After that was done I planted dozens of narcissus and crocus and a few alliums in the borders. They should be a picture in the New Year.

Then I swept up the needles and picked up the dead wisteria leaves that had fallen into the border by hand, despite knowing full well that it would be almost as bad tomorrow. Still, it has to be done at least every couple of days, front and back without fail if it’s dry - another definite sign of gardening OCD.

Of course I planted the pots at the front last weekend but I still managed to squeeze in some pink bellis daisies and underplant just a few more bulbs. The bellis, pansies, cyclamen, and bulbs should carry some colour through to early spring with luck - just in time for the aquilegias to flower. Of course whilst I was planting I had to remove a few almost dead leaves and ensure that the variegated sage in the basket was positioned just so.

Then it was back to the sweeping. Snails and leaves, leaves and snails - I now keep a broom and a bamboo gravel rake by the front door just in case an attack of gardening OCD emerges, a blown leaf here, a dropped fuchsia flower there. Roll on the winter, at least the leaves will stop falling.

Oh well, time to sweep the path again…