Spring is great but OH SO TIRING!!!

16 years ago

I LOVE LOVE LOVE springtime but the chores just NEVER seem to get done!!! My shoulders are aching tonight from lifting all that MULCH that seems to take FOREVER to get done. My husband INSISTS that we've already purchased 200 bags and I INSIST it was only 195. LOL. I've still got half the front to do and ALL of the back. I think it was over 500 bags last year...my count not his! heehee. This gardening is an EXPENSIVE hobby!!!No telling what i've spent on insecticides, messenger, bayer, alfalfa, etc. etc. And then we get to the ROSES and FLOWERS. JEEPERS. I don't EVEN want to tally that up. LOL. I also emptied a 32 gallon trash can full of alfalfa tea on the roses today. Just did my new ones mainly. If these roses aren't beautiful it sure ain't MY fault!!!! I don't see how you guys do it that have full time jobs. This IS my full time job!! I say KUDOS to you!!! Thanks for all the VERY helpful information you all have shared on this site. I wouldn't know HALF of what I do if it weren't for all of you sharing your wealth of information. Looking forward to a wonderfully TIRING but more wonderfully REWARDING year of gardening!! Oh, the bliss of it all! April

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Comments (19)

gbebeh
16 years ago
april how many rose bushes do you have? I have under 40 but they are sure making me tired!

sleep good tonight!
gbebeh
katefisher
16 years ago
April:

Don't say 'expensive'. Bad word. Say 'wow honey, the limited amount of funds I spend on gardening sure are a worth while ivestment in our home' or words to that effect. Try to keep the significant other cocooned from real costs associated with gardening especially roses wherever possible:)

Sounds like you had a fun day. I could not escape our office despite many efforts to that end. I might slip out tomorrow though. Supposed to be gorgeous outside.

Pictures of your garden?

Kate
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aprilscott12
Original Author
16 years ago
gbebeh, I have lost count lately....somewhere close to 200 I suppose. Not that many compared to lots of folks on here! I have only just begun with the ht's and da's this year. I have around 80 that are just KO's. I do love roses but I also love pretty much EVERY kind of flower. Yes, it IS tiring but fun too! I sure hope I do sleep good cause I gotta start all over again tomorrow! Supposed to rain Friday so maybe I can take a break then! LOL! April
karl_bapst_rosenut
16 years ago
Although tiring, I find it a good tired. I come in at the end of the day feeling very satisfied.
It's especially satisfying when the most persnickity homeower in the subdivision stops and tells me I have the nicest yard in the neighboorhood.
That makes it all worthwhile!
aprilscott12
Original Author
16 years ago
Kate, OK...that sounds like good advice! Thankfully he's really supportive of my "hobby"! He is quite happy to forgo dinner for a rose. JUST KIDDING! Yep, I did have a fun day. In fact, that's exactly what he said to me when I came inside. He knows it just makes me so happy to be out there in the garden. Hope you can make it outside tomorrow too!! I'm gonna try taking more pictures this year to be able to post on here. Can't wait for all the new ones to bloom. You guys have "enabled" me so much! lol. April
seil zone 6b MI
16 years ago
Oh, April, I know just how you feel tonite. I unburied a lot of my garden from it's winter mulch today and I ache EVERYWHERE! But oh was it good to be outside and playing in the garden again after what seemed like an interminable winter!
canadian_rose
16 years ago
I can't wait!!!! I'm going to start schlepping my roses in pots in the garage out to the driveway to start getting some sun!!! I can't wait!!

Carol
dimitrig
16 years ago
Imagine what it's like for us in CA and FL.

It's nice to be able to garden year-round. On the other hand, we don't really get much of a reprieve.

My sister-in-law lives in upstate New York and they garden
from May to September. Here I spend a lot of time in the
garden every single month. Even in January when there's not
much going on usually prune my roses.

I really enjoy gardening so I don't complain too much, but
it would be interesting to sit and plan your garden all
winter rather than raking, pruning, and watering. It's
only the beginning of April and I'm already wiped out. :)
aprilscott12
Original Author
16 years ago
Yes,it is a very pleasant sort of tired.

Karl, I'm sure your neighbors are quite envious! It is definitely worth all the effort come summertime.

dimitrig, I am sometimes envious of all your NICE weather but seeing everything "wake up" in the spring is oh so nice too. I love all the new green coming out of a winter dormancy! Sometimes the planning can get ya in trouble!!! Too much spare time to dream up all kinds of new things. My hubby dreads hearing the words..." honey, I been thinking....." He knows it's another project or flower bed coming up! LOL.
dmg2242
16 years ago
I never realize how out of shape I am until Spring flower bed cleaning and mulching. OMG--it is satisfying work, but it hurts!

As for making 13 trips to Home Depo for the "last couple of bags" of mulch--sheesh. It never ends--you always need "one more bag". It seems to be an unspoken rule of gardening...lol!

Denise
kathwhit
16 years ago
Yeah, it hurts, but it sure makes me smile. I had spring vacation last week, and it was rainy and cold the whole time, but that didn't stop me from planting, weeding and mulching. I was sore but happy! When I walk out the back door and grab my gloves and tools, Freddy (my lab mix) jumps for joy. I say to him "Freddy, were going outside to dig and delve" in a singsong voice and he goes nuts. He know he can follow me around, chase the wheelbarrow, try to catch the weeds I throw and just be close to me. My DH comes out and has a smoke and watches me and just shakes his head. I tell him "I just love this" and he says "I know....." in a disbelieving voice. It is just so comforting to me to mess around outside in the garden. And well worth the pain.
Kathy
Molineux
16 years ago
Complain to me when you start getting up at 4AM to do the spraying. Thank god for floodlights.
aprilscott12
Original Author
16 years ago
molineux, I ain't getting up at 4 am to do ANYTHING!!! By the way...not complaining at all...just admitting that I actually DO get tired sometimes. April
ramblinrosez7b
16 years ago
I hear you. Last weekend after gardening all day, I ached in places I didn't even know I had. LOL! I guess from being stationary all winter the muscles have to get mobile again. Start your engines people! Its GARDEN TIME! EEHAAAAA!!
lesmc
16 years ago
I`m so ready! Bring It On!! Lesley
katefisher
16 years ago
April I had to tell you that yesterday I left work early to come home and don my shorts for the first time and do a few laps around the yard. Which felt great. At first I felt totally overwhelmed but then all the cats came out on the back porch to supervise and I started making a bit of progress and then it was all good.

I only had about two hours which limited my tasks to removing dead stuff, filling in a gopher hole, cleaning up stray leaves and branches etc so I am not too sore today. Just happy to have been able to get my hands in the dirt.

Kate
Prettypetals_GA_7-8
16 years ago
Hey Kate, Glad your cats kept you in line! LOL! It is great to get our hands in the dirt isn't it? My hubby bought me a shirt at our Pike Nursey that says "I like to play in the dirt". Couldn't have summed it up better. I know April and she would never complain about working outside. Shes like me and can go from sunrise to sunset and then some. She left out the part about her being scared off by a snake and went and put on her hubbys boots and trudged around in the yard that way. Wish I had a picture of it and I would post it. April is always picture perfect when you see her so you could just imagine her trompsing around in big rubber boots. Now me, I throw on some raggedy old cut off jeans and t-shirt and flip flops if no digging is involved and i'm off. April is a hoot! Hope everyone has a great spring and great flowers to come. Judy
aprilscott12
Original Author
16 years ago
I will address Kate FIRST and then we'll deal with Judy! LOL! So glad you got to get out and play! My husband is always amazed when we drive up in the driveway in the summer and I hand him my purse and head straight for the garden hose. He's like "aren't you even gonna go inside?" I'm like....is it still daylight???!!!!! ALRIGHT JUDY....I know you would never DREAM of posting such a picture! It was quite a sight I must admit. And I am NOT picture perfect when working out. My kids would beg to differ with you on that point! So glad we got the yard cut and trimmed today before all this WONDERFUL rain came! Everything looks 5 shades greener right now than it did this morning. I will agree with Judy on the last line....great spring...great flowers...and thanks to the great Creator for it all! April
sami_i_am
16 years ago
It's so fun to be part of a group who's just like me!! The best reprieve after a terrible commute or a long hard day is just to go outside and deadhead here, trim a little there, and talk to the seedlings. Oh yes, you have to tell them how good they are and how nicely they are coming up!

It's supposed to be GORGEOUS here tomorrow and you bet you know where I'll be!

Spring is great but OH SO TIRING!!!

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gbebeh

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