SPRINGING INTO SUMMER GARDENS

It's worth it in the end

By Ellen Donker

Every year, as spring moves into summer, I am determined to improve my gardens. I’m aware that I should probably be saying this in winter when it’s time to start seedlings, but I can never seem to rustle up the enthusiasm or plan ahead to get a spot in the Maplewood greenhouse.

Early June comes along and I’m just getting started with clearing garden beds of leaves and weeds (hoping I don’t yank a perennial by mistake) and figuring out what I want to plant. If I haven’t made it to the Maplewood Garden Club plant sale, then I’m off to Home Depot.

Faced with racks of possibilities, I often buy more seed packets than I have room to plant: cucumbers, string beans, various lettuces, cantaloupe, cilantro and more. I also buy plants: tomatoes and various peppers as well as herbs such as rosemary, parsley, thyme (if mine hasn’t survived the winter), dill and basil.

Then I have planters to fill with annuals. I find hanging baskets to flank the front door with a color scheme that I use for the urns on my front steps. For the back yard, I fill various pots and planters for areas that need a visual boost. I let my perennials populate the garden beds, hoping the deer don’t devour them for a midnight snack.

If I’m lucky, I plant everything by the second week of June. And then the weeding and maintenance continue. My newest project was to tidy up my herb garden rather than have a collection of random pots crowded around the patio furniture. A family member had a raised planter on legs that I secretly envied for years. After researching different options, I ordered a galvanized planter in pale green.

The day the planter was delivered, I drafted my daughter Madeline to help me assemble it. She’s very logical and much better than I am at spatial tasks. Plus, she follows directions. There’s no winging it in her world.

With most projects, I usually make a few mistakes along the way and have to reassemble pieces to get it right. I’ve accepted that to be part of the process, but it’s time consuming. Sometimes directions aren’t clear, steps are left out or I misinterpret a diagram. The directions for this planter were pretty straightforward, but I was annoyed that most of the parts weren’t marked. Madeline and I worked well together. An hour and a half later we had a handsome planter. We hadn’t backtracked once.

Now for the fun part: It was time to fill the planter. I had read about using logs, leaves and grass clippings for the bottom of the planter. That would mean less soil to fill the planter and the logs and leaves would break down over time and supply nutrients to the soil, making for healthier plants. I also added corrugated cardboard from the planter’s packaging. For the soil, I had bought a ginormous bag that required two people to lift it. Into the planter it went. Still it wasn’t enough.

Madeline wondered how I thought one bag could fill it, the logs notwithstanding. She pointed out to me that I could’ve done the math, as I must’ve learned how to calculate cubic feet in middle school. This is when her teacher vibes come out. All I can say is I simply didn’t think about it.

The next day I ran to Home Depot for a second bag and I planted the herbs. I can’t wait to see them mature and fill out the planter.

If all of this sounds like a lot of work, it’s true. I just know that in the quiet hours of July when I’m sitting in my back yard with a good book, surrounded by my blooming plants, lush herbs and productive vegetables, I’ll know that it was all worth it.