Oh I 2nd the garden tools too!! I can never find them as I just lay them down and move on ;)

I only pick up my garden hose if someone is coming over or if I have to mow hah :)

Chelsie

definately, garden hose...

Second, cleaning off the dead impatience flowers off the deck surface after rains. They BECOME part of the wood overnight. And the dye is a pain.

I hate to pick up the piles of weeds and deadheads and dispose of them. After I've gone to all the work of pulling and clipping I think someone else should have to go clean up the piles ;)

I love to roll up my hose. I hate the way it looks strung all over the yard! Funny how different we all are.

MeMo

Yep, my garden hose just lies along the side of the driveway all summer long.
I don't wait till fall to move things, but then our summers don't get insanely hot. Just sometimes. Like now. I don't move tall stuff, though, like coneflowers or phlox. That just gets ugly.

My least-favorite chore is cutting the grass and whipper-snipping the edges. What a colossal waste of time. Obviously, my edges are permanently in need of a haircut.
I guess I'll just have to put in more beds.

I ditto memo ... and I also don't pick up all those little plastic pots that all those plants came in. I do ALL the work. Someone else should clean up after me. ( I wish) - Kim

Oh Chris, I LOVE to mow the grass. Where we live we mow grass almost year around! Of course I have a riding mower (which DH gave me as a b'day gift one year...guess that pretty much says it all) but I'd love it with a push mower also. I don't do the "whipper-snipping" of the edges however, hire the kid across the street to do that :). I must agree that I don't like to wind the hose up and I often have it sprawled all over the yard. And yes, I bought one of the plastic hose keepers from Dome Hepot this year and what a pain in the rear it is. Only good thing is it hides my bright yellow hose when not in use. But I guess most of all I dislike deadheading and cutting back perennials. I do it all the time I just don't like doing it.

MeMo, I carry a 5 gallon bucket around with me to put the deadheads and weed piles in so I don't have to go back and gather them up when I'm finished. Vikki

I tend to push myself past the point of "time to stop for the day", so gathering and cleaning tools is a major pain, but I can't go in and take a shower until it's done, lol.

We have one of those plastic hose reels and I love it!

Here is a link that might be useful: Suncast wall hose reel

I have a big backyard and 150 feet of heavy 5/8" rubber hose. Mostly it lies along the path all summer unless company is coming. Then I have one of those half-barrels under the spigot where I coil the hose. I haven't yet seen the reel that will hold this length and weight of hose. But no water, no plants. Just came in from doing all the containers--quite a project in mid-summer.

natal that does look like a good one. Wouldn't work for me. We live in an earth home and couldn't attach it to the concrete wall. I had a "better home and gardens" one but the handle broke off. You know how plastic gets brittle sitting in the sun all the time. I also hate hoses that kink. We bought a $26 one thinking it would be better than the cheapy. Not! I think it kinks worse.

Yep, we sure are different. I remember the first time I drove through some of the midwest and saw all the lush green lawns rolling one into the other. I just sighed. Then I saw the riding lawnmowers with WOMEN driving them and thought, "What the BLEEP!" When we arrived at my son & dil's place in Indiana, my dil, who has lived there her entire life clued me in. She said, "yep, the women mow the lawns while the guys watch ball games. Again I was like, "What the BLEEP!" I turned to my DH and gave him that look that told him in no uncertain terms that this girl wouldn't be riding in anything but a sports car and he could just keep right on mowing our little patch or I'd quickly convert it to another bed of roses. : ) Seriously, I do know your men do more than watch ball games, as ours do, but I am still NOT mowing the lawn! lol!

On topic, I don't like digging holes for large plants or shrubs. I'm strong but DH is even stronger so he's my hole digger.

Natal, I love that hose reel -- must get me one or two! Thanks!

Diana

Cooking! I only have a kitchen because it came with the house.

...OOPS your talking gardening.

That would most definitely be cleaning up after I've pruned and weeded.

I am laughing and relating. I play Hanzel and Gretal with my tools too. All you have to do is follow the trail if you want to find me. Of course, that is unless I throw the pruners out with the clippings. I don't know how many I have lost that way.

YAY! I knew I wasn't the only one ;)

Pat I lose my pruners like that all the time!! I also tend to snap the little garden shovels alot :) For my Birthday this year DH got me a carry along tool box with all sorts of garden tools, bug spray, miracle grow and other goodies but the best part was this heavy duty little hand shovel in which I'm yet to break!! WOOT!!

I like to mow but it would be better if someone picked up the hose so I didn't have to :o)

"I think someone else should have to go clean up the piles" THAT is my DH. In spades. He has always been like that. Dude! The job is not done!

What do I hate to do? Well, I hate to go off to work on a beautiful day where I know I'll be stuck (often with nothing to do) for 10.5 hours. I'd rather be home - weeding, deadheading, HECK! even rolling up the hose! Anything but being stuck miles away from my garden!

I am like Vikki, I love to mow and edge, DH bought me a new edger a couple years ago for Mom's Day and I got him a new Kitchen Aide mixer for Father's Day the same year LOL. I also carry a 5 gal bucket for trims. The Lee Valley folks make a wonderful hose keeper , it is expensive but well worth it. I can't leave out stuff as DH is legally blind and catastrophe would ensue if I didn't pick up stuff. Here is a link, Caroline

Here is a link that might be useful: Hose reel

Memo - I feel exactly the same way about picking up piles, but in my case it's piles of rocks in the veggie garden. As I'm cultivating and rocks pop up, I usually throw them to the end of the row. Once a few land there, I get a little pile to aim for, and pitch rocks from other rows. The piles are pretty spread-out and I hate to pick them up because it means get the wheelbarrow, rake the rocks up, shovel them in, bust my hump all way back to the rock pile, then back, pant, pant, pant. So the rocks usually sit there for weeks with grass growing up through them until I decide to mow around the garden. Then I have to move them or else have the mower bang-clanking and firing rocks and mower blade fragments all over the place.

Some day I will learn to just finish each job completely as it is being done and then I will be a mature human being. Sure.

ThinMan

Definitely hose coiling here too! Mine lies along the side passage all Summer long. After all, it gets daily use... As for picking up after deadheading, etc., I also keep a bucket with me while I'm doing it, so there isn't really anything to pick up afterwards. I guess what I like less to do in the garden is pruning - really don't like it. Other than that, I can't think of much else I don't like to do in the garden. I do not have a lawn, so mowing is not an issue. Being stuck in an office for a zillion hours during the day *is* an issue I wish I could resolve once and for all though, sigh...

Eduarda

I've enjoyed this thread, Chelsie.
Compared to the long list of DETESTED indoor chores (ironing being at the top of the list) I really can't think of any garden-related activity that I hate except for picking off the JBs and other beetles. I really have to psyche myself up before I go out to do battle (picture Arlo Guthrie in "Alice's Restaurant" jumping up and down on the group W bench yelling "Kill, KILLLLLLLL!").

Patti

Chelsie ~ Great thread! I also hate to coil the hose and usually it is spread out. I don't mind it if the hose co-operates, but a couple that I have don't want to behave at all. I love to mow, have since I was a kid. I enjoy weed wacking also along the rock borders, etc., although sometimes it really wears me out. DH has kindly offered to do the mowing and weed wacking any time I don't feel like it, and I've taken him up on the mowing part already, and may with the weed wacking also. It is so nice to go out after you've finished to see how good it looks. But as soon as you turn your back it grows, and before you know it, it's time to do it all over again. ;-) I just mowed yesterday morning and did some trimming and took the piles out to curb to be picked up today. By the time I finished in a couple of hours, I was soaking wet. The humidity down here is the pits, and even though I get out early, it's still miserable out.

Happy gardening to all ~ FlowerLady

The hose thing too. The only time it gets coiled is when the man comes to mow.
I am always having to hunt some tool.
I don't mind pruning, but hate picking the stuff up. I put a trash bag in a can near where I am pruning.

Hi, y'all! Lurker here... Gotta do a proper intro sometime - But,,, so many people hate to coil up the hose that I have to tell you about my hose reel. Got it at Sam's Club last year. They seem to have them every spring, but when they're gone, they're gone for the year. It's metal, on wheels, very heavy, and holds at least 200 ft of hose. It's the first thing that's ever made it so easy for me to put the hose away that I actually do it. I've had a few of those awful plastic ones before, and I hate them. This one is heavy enough - and well designed enough - that it doesn't try to move around when you're coiling up the hose.I think mine was about $70.
- Dot

I hate to do anything at all when the temperature and the humidity are, like today, about the same. Humidity is 82% this morning and the temp is 80 degrees. (As the temp goes up, the humidity goes down.) It's like walking out into a warm blanket and I have peaches to pick. When you perspire, it can't evaporate to keep you cool.

Nell

P.S. When you have to coil your garden hose, just remind yourself: "Nell's picking up ten hoses, removing six extensions and replacing the cover over six outlets before they mow."

I absolutely hate doing a dog poop patrol around the yard, but I hate even more what happens when it ISN'T done!

I'm not the primary lawn mower around here, but I do it from time to time. I play a mind-game with myself by calling this chore a "weight resistance work out", which isn't far from the truth since both our front and back lawns are sloped.

I hear you, Nell. I hate humidity. It absolutely drains my energy and I avoid it at all costs.

I cut back my rose bushes twice a year, and no matter what clothing I am wearing and how thick & strong my gloves are, I always end up with scratches from the thorns. I still can't figure that one out. LOL

Marilyn

I agree with all those who have mentioned the hose. Typically, it is rolled up by the garage. Considering I use it pretty much every day this time of year, it would be stupid to put it away each night.
I'm also bad about picking up after myself. I make the rounds with my shears/pruning snips, make little piles out of the debris, then never return to clean up said piles.
I actually like pruning/snipping/shearing the plants. I feel this is the work that sets apart the true gardeners from those with a more passing interest. I pride myself on keeping my plants clean looking, and blooming far longer than they are supposed to.
I am not fond of trimming the horrible hedge I inherited which screens the alley adjacent to our lot. It is a mishmash of crappy shrubs planted there many years ago. They grow(and act) like weeds and I have no choice but to trim them into a hedge wall about 4-5 times a year. They DO make a great screen. I just wish they were nicer plants. It would cost a lot of $$$ to remove the whole hedge and plant up a new row of nicer shrubs. (Yes, even if I were to use my work connections). Plus, it would take awhile for the new shrubs to fill in. Guess I'll just chalk it up to "character building"
Finally, the lawn. I would love to be completely rid of it. I don't mind mowing or edging. I just can't stand wasting time and resources on it. Seems so silly to plant something, then cut it back once a week. I refuse to water my lawn, so this time of year it looks pretty crappy. I'd rather have it all be meandering stone pathways and planting beds. This may happen in the future(whether at this house or the next), but it has to wait until Benjamin is older. A kid needs a lawn to play on.

MrMorton,
Oh I hear ya about them hedges!! We have one between our yard and my neighbors who have the most beautiful house here in a town and are letting it go to H*LL!! Drives me crazy to see it. I have to get some pic's because you all will be in horror of it also. It has this beautiful brick arbor and grapes that grow but the top part is wood beams that are starting to rot. I'm always thinking about what kind of wonderful flowering vines I could grow on it. :)

Then the hedge is always full of small saplings that they never cut out. I've went out at night and cut alot of them back little by little. I've said something about the mess in the hedge and offered to cut it back and take care of it to no avail! So this year I added a flower bed right up next to it and planted alot of morning glories to grow up into it :)

Right now their lawn hasn't been mowed in atleast 4 weeks!! Yep I'm going to get pics I'll be back to post them :)

On the other subject of the roses..that's why I don't have any!! I can't start getting all pricked up!! But I have to admit to really starting to fall in love with the looks of some of them growing in all you're gardens! I love the old English style looking ones :) I'm become a convert yet ;)

Ok..sneaking out to take pic's :) hehe I'm so bad!

"I hate to do anything at all when the temperature and the humidity are, like today, about the same. Humidity is 82% this morning and the temp is 80 degrees." - Nell

Nell, I saw this post, it was exactly what I was thinking. Has the humidity really gone down. BLECH. I work outside today to, in the late PM.

I also do not like to haul hoses. It's OK when they are empty, full is another story. So I am determined to have more hoses, and more rain barrels around the house so I don't have to haul things so much. Plus I want quality hoses that don't kink. Hard to find.

GGG

I hate hoses! I hate unwinding them, I hate using them, and I hate putting them away! It's enough to make me only want to plant xeriscaping plants... but, nooo, I had to have roses and hostas and two hydrangeas... silly me. :)

But I love pruning roses. It's funny how people have such different opinions about the same chores! Marilyn, I'll cut back your roses for you. :)

This post is great. It's nice to read other people hates and find out you're not alone. I also hate the "muscle" stuff like digging, hauling, etc. I have some physical limitations and it is very difficult for me. For those of you who have DHs that help, do something special for them. They deserve it! I am totally envious. My DH (and I don't mean dear)refuses to help me in the garden even though he knows there are many things I can't do. He says that I am the one that wants it so I am the one that will do it. But at least he does mow the lawn. The other day I was complaining about the mosquitoes eating me up and he said, "If you would quit watering all that stuff you wouldn't have mosquitoes." He's so helpful. Last night I dug up about 6 feet of iris bulbs (purple, you can have some for SASBE but it's expensive)and it took me well over an hour. I have to stop and rest often. It's a good thing the soil was so loose or I would have had more trouble. Anyway. I've complained about him enough. His ears are probably burning.

Trailrunner - That hose looks like it would work. Looks durable and easy to use. It would probably be worth the money.

Chesiechicky - Can't you trim your side of the hedge? I wouldn't give a rat's rear end what the neighbors said because it's showing on your property. Maybe they would get the hint.

I also hate the heat and humidity. It's always bad for us here in Missouri. The heat is bad enough but add the humidity and I'm done for. If it never got about 75 degrees I would be in heaven. I just can't take the heat anymore.

Thanks for letting me vent. This is better than counseling I would think! LOL

Total agreement with everyone on the humidity. Can't wait till October and that first drop.

Dot, we grabbed one of those wheeled reels at Sam's a few months ago. Haven't used it yet. It's being stored with a lot of other stuff while we do the remodel. It'll replace the plastic wall reel that used to be on the driveway side of the house. With that area now a planting bed I needed something more manageable. Good to know you're happy with yours.

Ok so I got a few pic's :) You can't really see how high the grass is but it's well to my knees!! Well the weeds in the grass anyways! Which is fine I have alot of weeds in my grass I think they are the only thing staying green actually :)

But ok.. look at the top of these shrubs/trees and you can see a whole tree that never got cut down coming out. Which of course would block my afternoon sun in my back beds so I'm working on this one. It's having a slow death.. cause unknown ;)

{{gwi:723263}}

This one is part of the hedge as you can see there are all sorts of stuff growning back up again. Those nasty little weed like trees go all through they hedge I've been keeping at most of them though :)

{{gwi:723265}}

Then there is this poor arbor! Makes me so mad to see it going to pots! It could honestly be so beautiful if someone would just give it a little love :(

{{gwi:723267}}

So maybe picking up the hose isn't the thing I hate the most.. maybe it's watching a beautiful home and yard not being taken care of.

ProudGM..Oh I cut back my side. Those tall shrubs we're hanging like 5 feet or more over my side and we hacked them all back. The guy is a lawyer and was right out there taking pic's afterwards I thought for sure I was going to get some sort of letter or fine, but that was last year and I havn't heard anything as of yet :)

Chelsie

Great topic..hoses seem to be a common thread... :)

I laughed outloud at Diana's woman mowing lawns story since I too am from Indiana..and it is true....the woman mow here mostly. I think it mostly comes from the farm country thing...and it just filters into the non farm areas. Men use to work the fields and have not time for trival things like lawn mowing. Even tho fields and farms are reduced..the heirs and the thought process has lived on and spead into suburbs.

Marilyn..the dog poop is my second worst chore...tho certainly not hard..just annoying..it is like laundry....it is NEVER Done! I have two ankle biters and a lab so there is more than enough to go around..and since I love my garden and want others to also. I make it a daily or semi daily chore. But it seems to only be clean.. :) for a hour before there is a new spot.. darn lovable critters!

Great post....

Well dumb me I got so caught up in reading everyones' great posts and the "hose lamentations" I forgot to say what I HATE !! I hate the gnats and dragging the hoses to water all the pots every day. I hate hunting for stuff I just had and then can't find where I put it down. I love to mow and rake but I hate bagging up and sweeping. Caroline

Natal, I had that Suncast hose reel at my former home and I loved mine too. Bought the equivilant 'on wheels' one and threw it out soon after...no umph!

I have to agree with Keesha on the women mowing thing. It's true in the midwest that the women do all the mowing. My DD and I have care of all the small animals, trash hauling, lawn mowing, housework, cooking and child care when there are kids around. It is just second nature to do it all. Been done that way for a century and a half around here. The men folk truly do have it harder. Sadly my rider is broken again and it isn't any fun pushing a mower around a two acre yard!

MeMo

chelsiechick Maybe some of his other overgrown plants will die of the same unknown disease >;->

Hahahah oh that made me laugh :)

I hate seeing a fabulous gardening day through the office window, and getting home without enough time before dark to do much. I'm happy just to wander through the beds sniffing the flowers, clipping deadheads, pulling weeds and hauling my trash bag behind me for the bits.

In the garden the least favorites are starting a new flowerbed in brick quality clay, getting oxalis out of the flowerbed, dealing with slugs.

I agree about the garden hose. I just hate winding that thing up, but I don't like keeping it loose and sprawling on the lawn either. And starting new flower beds, I absolutely hate that. I'm not really fond of mowing the lawn either - being newly single, I had to do it for the first time last week, and I thought it was going to be much easier than it was.

I have to agree the watering and hoses are the worst! When you have a very large yard, it really complicates things. I need to buy another 100-200' of hose to keep on the east side.
Even then it is a pain to drag it from bed to bed.

I also hate the clean-up......a 5 gallon bucket wouldn't hold my yard. I need a pickup truck. I just spent 2 hours yesterday morning dead-heading, pulling dead poppies, cutting out very tall weeds, cutting down all hollyhocks and various other hot-weather chores. Now I will have to drive the mower and trailer back and pick up all the debris...not sure the lawn trailer will hold it all!

Some of my beds are over 6 or 7 feet deep so I just go in and rip and toss.........let them lay where they fall.

I also hate, hate the hot, humid weather. I work out between 6:30 am and 11 am and then I am done for the day.

This definitely isn't my favorite time of year.

I've often thought of starting a thread like this.

My hoses are sprawled across the property, I only pick them up for parties or photos. My tools and plant pots litter the garden beds and it's always a search to find where I used them last. DH mows the lawn about once a month, so it gets pretty high and weedy, but it doesn't bother either of us.

What I hate are critter problems. I just want to stay in denial and ignore them. I don't use insecticides, I rely on the birds and snakes, etc. But sometimes I get nasty caterpillars, or 4 lined plant bugs, or voles, or raccoons, or deer. So I hate spraying, even with my anti-deer chili pepper spray. I hate picking caterpillars, I hate trapping for voles, I usually will suffer a lot of damage before I am motivated to act. My JB bags are full to overflowing before I finally get around to changing them. Right now I've been ignoring a mildewed clematis for over a month.

Unlike others here, I like creating new beds, I like the "muscle work", and I like pruning. Everybody's different, a good thing.

I really enjoy starting and making new beds too! I'm always so excited by the thoughts of it I can't wait to dig in!!

I havn't any real critters due to living right in the village but I have loads and loads of slugs!! I've been doing the whole beer in a cup/bowl thing and it works they are always full of dead ones but there are so many of them!!

I bought a 4 dollar little bug cage at Wally for my 3 year old and she has turned into a slug collector ;) She will spend hours while I'm outside working looking all over my beds for slugs and picking them up with the little plastic tweezers and dropping them into the cage. Then I lay it on the sidewalk until the next day and if it gets warm they all dry out and die. Then I dump it. Last night it had rained before we went out and she must have caught like 50 or more of them! But there seems to always be alot more!!

One thing I've noticed with this thread is that nobody has said they don't like weeding!!! I don't mind it at all but I figured someone would hate it. I have 2 friends that have some flowers but don't do much with them because they don't like to weed. Maybe that's what sets apart real gardeners :)

Chelsie

It's been interesting to hear that some of you southerners are having a hard time with the humidity. We northerners start complaining when the dew points get up into the sixties and feel like we're dying when they reach the seventies, but I had always thought that you southern natives were acclimated to it and didn't pay it any mind. How on earth do outdoor workers down there survive the summers?

It's in the low eighties today with a dew point of 63. That combination was good for a little sweating in church at the hour-long wedding of a friend's daughter. It was very nice, but give me a good old Protestant wedding anytime: twenty-five minutes and you're out the door. :-) (Hope no Catholics took offense at that - certainly none was intended.)

Not a big fan of weddings,
ThinMan

I hate having to cover myself with mosquito repellent every time I step outside...and knowing that I'm going to get bit anyhow. The little buggers always find a spot that I missed.

Thinman, I can only speak for myself, but the older I get the harder it is to deal with the humidity. If I didn't like to garden it probably wouldn't be as much of an issue. I'm just grateful to have a/c.

I really don't like picking up the little piles of garden debris I tend to leave here and there around our yard. One such pile was left so long that it turned into choice compost...LOL. I guess laziness does have its rewards sometimes.

Renee

I don't mind doing a lot of the things listed on here, but I don't like staking plants, and in the fall, I don't like unstaking them and putting the stakes away. Unfortunately, my garden looks terrible because of it, so next year will be my year to stake everything that needs it, FOR SURE!

Lime

P.S. I also hate daylight savings time. It doesn't cool down until late in the afternoon and then dh gets home right when I'm in the middle of something and he expects DINNER!

Lime, I'm with you on that, It seems I'm always in the middle of something when mealtimes arrive. Most annoying to have to stop and go hitch myself to the stove. I have a hard time getting myself back on track to finish whatever I was doing before that. I guess that's why there are so many things half done around here ):o(.

Annette

Great thread, Chelsie!

LOL at Diana...I do Not mow either...No way! Anyway, my DH buys the huge weedeater's and mower's that I can't handle (thinks he's Tim the tool man) so I'm off the hook!

I think what I hate the most is Bermuda grass! It snakes it's way under and over any barrior I create! Just pulling it out is useless because one tiny root left in the ground becomes a large patch of grass in days. I have vowed to figure out a way to keep it out, but until then I guess I'll continue to dig to the center of the earth to get the last root out!

I hate putting the hose away, too!

Shawna

Move the water hose is number 1 so I don't. Number two is pull weeds....hot sticky and every bone in the body aches the next day, but the rewards are worth it :)

I hate that the days aren't longer and cooler, that I let my ferns burn out in this infernal heat (though there aren't as many slugs this year, for which I am eternally greatful), that the rubekia and the hollyhocks are vying for control of the front bed, and that when I think about my gardens right before I go to sleep, I get too jazzed up and can't fall asleep!

I hate to have to destroy a plant lost to disease. You have such high hopes when you plant something, and you nurture it along for months - and then WHAM! some fungus attacks and there is nothing you can do but pull it up, stuff it in the trash can, and wash your hands. You don't even get compost out of it.

Can you tell I am watching the Fusarium Wilt death of 2 huge tomato plants loaded with fruit? Boo hoo!

--Tracy