Daily details from the garden to bring you inspiration throughout the year
I catch myself in the ridiculous position of wishing time away, urging my garden to catch up with the images of other people’s snowdrops appearing day by day on my phone. It’s not a race. It’s not a competition of any sort, though I’m no stranger to feeling both envy at the apparent perfection of someone else’s garden, and shame at the state of my own. I suppose gardening can be about that, if you want, but it’s not any kind of gardening I’m interested in. So, if I’m to resolve anything for the coming year, it’s to kick garden envy in to touch, to stop apologising to myself for the perfect garden I’ve not managed to create, and appreciate the richness of the garden I have. Weeds, messy bits, and glorious accidents, the plants I’ve introduced and the ones that have found their own way there, the creatures we invite in and encourage as well as the ones we don’t (perhaps even the neighbours cats, though admittedly that’s stretching things a bit). Because it’s the ideas that haven’t quite worked that tell us even more about this ongoing process of being a gardener than when it all goes according to plan, and I’m never quite so grounded as when I’m out here, the breath of plants and soil washing over me, lost in dreaming and doing.
This is the last of my daily blog posts under the #gardeninspo365 hashtag. It’s been wonderful experience for me to write each day through 2019, and I can only hope you’ve enjoyed reading them half as much. You’ve all been so supportive with your comments both here on the blog, via email or across social media, and I’m truly grateful and delighted to have had you along for the year. I hope you’ll stick around on the mailing list as I reduce my posting frequency a little from daily to weekly (or thereabouts) – I’m still posting most days on Instagram – and will be sure to let you know how I’m using the extra writing time I’m gifting myself for 2020! Happy new year, and happy gardening!
A year of garden coaching
I’m very excited about my new venture – it’s a way for me to work with more people than I can physically get around to, helping them to make the very best of their gardens in a way that suits the life they lead. If you’d like to find out more, please click here to book for a January 2020 start.
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Hello! I’m Andrew, gardener, blogger, podcaster, and owner of a too-loud laugh, and I’m so pleased you’ve found your way to Gardens, weeds & words. You can read a more in-depth profile of me on the About page, or by clicking the image above.
