Gardening and Mental Health

Raised Beds at Last

/ Joan C. Thomson / Leave a comment

Weather in the Southern Piedmont seems to have the mind of a seesaw this spring—up into the 80’s then plunging into the 40’s or even 30’s—all in the same day, for weeks. The variety of temperatures expanded our wardrobes but we often didn’t know what to wear. My outdoor potted plants, now liberated from the confines of the dry, heated house seemed to do fine whatever the temperatures were—as long as I kept them watered (conserving water as I could). Rarely did heaven water them. We’ve been so thankful for rain, when it has come. When it does, it rains and rains for days. I’ll have to move some plants out of the rain this time, since they are in danger of becoming waterlogged. In gardening, it’s best to avoid extremes.

A benefit of the cool, sunny weather was the ability to garden without mosquitoes! In the heat of summer, they are ferocious. My neighbor and I have been talking for years about getting raised beds to bypass the heavy red clay, and put our hope for growth, in beautiful black soil. I bought a lot of wonderful varieties of seeds last year but discovered that they seldom sprouted in the clay. Maybe they’ll sprout in the rich soil?

We finally found some affordable raised bed frames; it was time to get them set up. I spent over half a day hoeing the weeds out of my vegetable garden, thankful for help from my neighbor, whose gardens are next to mine; she reminded me that I didn’t have to pull each weed individually—I could hack clumps out all at once with a hoe. Whew!

The raised beds came in a long box from a discount grocery store at an amazingly low price. They won’t last forever, and I don’t expect them to. But they do the job I need for now. The open bottoms allow for drainage, and the possibility of longer roots. Assembling them was fairly straightforward, which is a good thing since the first one I opened had no instructions. However, it was strenuous when I was already exhausted from weeding.

Then came the heavy bags of rich, black soil. Thankfully, my neighbor helped me haul them back to my vegetable garden—even with the two of us, it was backbreaking. I persevered to fill the raised beds with the soil before the end of the day, not knowing when I’d have the time to take it up again. Once finished, the accomplishment felt good. Every year, my neighbor and I wonder if it’s worth the time, money and effort to keep gardening, but we always do. We can’t help it. We need to dig in the dirt and help things grow. Gardening was the first task God gave to people—it’s part of what he made us for. It brings me joy.

Do you garden with raised beds? If so, how is that going? Let me know in the Comments. If you enjoy these posts, please like and share them, and subscribe. Thanks!

Flower Planting

/ Joan C. Thomson / Leave a comment

A woodpecker hunts for his lunch in a dead tree in the surrounding woods. The sky is blue again with a few white clouds cooling the warmer weather.

Today, I started my gardening with digging up my rudbeckia/black-eyed Susan from my still weedy vegetable plot. I’d bought it in a pot as a fundraiser at the previous place we lived; though I had no garden there, I looked forward to our next home, which would surely have a garden. Actually it was a non-negotiable for me to have a garden in our next home. Gardening is necessary for my well-being. (The NHS of the UK (National Health Service)increasingly prescribes gardening for good mental health.)

As a young girl, I loved to answer ads for garden catalogs in the  back of my mother’s magazines. I’d tape my precious dime to an index card, slide it into a small white envelope, address it to the seed company then ask my mother for a stamp. A clothes pin held my request to an arm of our mailbox for the postman to pick up (yes, our postal worker was a man). I’d eagerly check the mailbox several times every day until the wondrous day my picture book, aka seed catalog, of colorful flowers finally arrived. As I pored over the pages of “dahlias the size of a dinner plate!” and other “exotic” flowers, one plant stood out. I’d never seen a clematis growing in hot, humid Texas but the purple-flowered vine captivated me. Recently, our landlady presented me with a gift of a purple-flowered clematis—my first. I hope I grow it well in the Southern Piedmont. I found a lyrical trellis of black wire and metal leaves, to support it when it does grow.

The other night, the BBC Gardener’s World TV show (I highly recommend it) had a feature on geums, reminding me of how much I enjoyed the orange-flowered perennial I grew in my garden in England (see older posts for the story of that garden). I came across a geum plant at the local big box garden center and of course, I needed to buy one. I have some flower seeds to plant but it’s good to have some already flowering plants to get the garden started.

 I also learned on Gardener’s World that when sliding a plant out of its pot for transplanting, it’s good to run a finger over the bare roots  to stimulate growth. This plant was definitely ready to be free of its pot and be planted in the ground.

Transplants have to be well watered. I’ve had to water the transplants more than I expected, even when it had rained; it takes a few days for them to get established.

Progress! There’s still a lot to be done, which is a good thing, but I have to remember that the zinnias, and tithonias I have planned, take up a lot of space.

Do you prefer to grow your flowers from plants or seeds? Or both? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Please feel free to share these posts with your gardening—and garden-loving, friends.