I spent some time in the garden on the weekend [yes, I know – I bet you’re surprised…].

 

While I was sitting there making a plan for some new garden beds we are preparing, I had this [rather philosophical thought] that in essence, my garden is actually a lot like life.

 

Stick with me here.

 

Have a vision.

What type of garden you want, the purpose you want your garden to serve, what you want to grow in your garden, and how you want your garden laid out? What you want your garden to look like in 5, 10, 20 years.

 

Prioritise.

Any gardener has a “wish list” of plants, but then needs to trim down your list to the plants that you feel are the most important for you to grow. 

 

Preparation is key.

Invest the time, energy, and expense to improve the soil of your garden – we need it to be strong, rich and durable.

 

Tend to your garden regularly.

If you continually pull the nutrition from your garden without replacing some of the nutrients – you won’t nett the desired long term result. Fertilise. Pull the weeds. Cut things back. Move things around. Continual nurturing is key.

 

Assess your garden’s conditions.

Different plants need different environments to thrive. How well a plant will do in your garden depends on many different factors – the position, the surrounds, access to sun, shade and water. Sometimes we have to work within your environment.

 

Have patience.

You can’t force a seed to grow faster than nature intended it to, and you can’t make trees bear fruit on demand. Trust and enjoy the process.

 

Work through the things out of your control.

You may suffer some setbacks – too much water, not enough water. That’s just the way it is. Be flexible and look for ways to keep moving forward.

 

Reap your harvest.

After all your hard work, your garden should start producing, whether it is a bed of flowers or a bountiful crop, ready to be picked. On the other hand, if what you produced wasn’t as bountiful as you would have liked it to be, or if some plants failed to bear fruit – analyse went wrong. Then, come up with a different strategy and try again!

 

See – I told you there were similarities!

 

Happy “gardening”!!