Hello gardeners!

Expectations in the garden.

Gardeners, like most other humans, love a fresh start. Another chance to get it right. Aspirations for a perfect perennial border or to eat from your picturesque vegetable garden year-round. Not a weed to be found. Everything about the garden is Instagram worthy, right? No.

Gardening is hard. Obviously it can be physically straining, but it can also be disappointing.

As a gardener you come to realize the very thing you love about the garden, the magic of Mother Nature, is also the same thing that can cause disappointment. Pests, weeds, seedlings that rot, plants that fail to flourish, fruit trees that do not get pollinated and expensive shrubs that fail to flower. Extreme weather damage. The list goes on. Some things you can avoid, as you become more experienced and try new methods, others are just part of the gardening experience.

High expectations creep in throughout the year. As you evaluate the autumn garden you may be thinking of how to improve next year's garden by adding fancy new bulbs (let's not discuss bulbs shrivelling up over the winter because we didn't get them planted before the ground froze). Sound familiar? The promise of beauty, whatever that might look like for you, leads to increasing expectations and pressure.

The pressure of these expectations can destroy the enjoyment of the gardening and turn an enjoyable hobby into a chore. The garden should never become a chore. To me, when that happens, you simply have a yard.

Perfectionist tendencies and unrealistic expectations for your garden can drain your spirit.

Gardening should be a respite from the world. Embrace the garden as it is, in the moment. Nibbled leaves are a sign of a healthy ecosystem in your garden. Let go of the desire to get everything perfect before you relax in the garden. It will never be perfect, nor should it. The garden is a living entity, always changing. Find the beauty within this wonderful ecosystem. Be present. Let the critters live under the leaf debris. A weed free, bare soil garden is an outdated method. Branch out. In the past a messy garden was a sign of a lazy gardener - not anymore. The gardener is embracing and nourishing the wonders of a natural ecosystem. Allowing everything to flourish naturally rather than imposing control. Has anyone ever been able to control Mother Nature? A fool's dream.

Challenge yourself to begin relinquishing control in the garden. Allow yourself to find beauty in the garden every day. Now you can really enjoy your hobby. Expectations and perfectionism create pressures that will inevitably destroy the joy of the garden.

A single magical moment in the garden, where you stand in awe of Mother Nature, makes all the labour, one of love. Now that is mindful gardening. Good for the gardener, and good for the garden.

Enjoy your garden and let's get our hands dirty,