Getting the Garden Ready for Christmas
I've been busy 'getting the garden ready for Christmas'. So what exactly does this mean? It's midsummer, and I'm not dressing trees and hedges up with Christmas lights, or poking Santas on sticks into the soil...
Beautiful Views...
It's just a question of private, personal pride - that the garden, by Christmas Eve, should be tidy, well watered, and weeded. All parts of the garden should look beautiful. And since the sum is greater than the parts...
No Lawn Mowing...
The view from every garden seat should be relaxing and beautiful. A Christmas picnic should be possible on every lawn, without Non-Gardening Partner needing to drop the Christmas mince pies and grab the lawn mower.
Appropriate for Christmas
The greatest Christmas day exertion should be a gentle cycle ride with Rusty the dog - or a quiet wander through the rose arches in the orchard to pick flowers for the house.
Banned Activities...
Not Suitable for Christmas...
Chain-sawing, bonfire burning, and noisy shredding are not suitable Christmas day tasks. Nor is digging. So there can't be any visible evidence that these things need doing. A little gentle rose dead-heading is OK, as is the watering of the patio pots.
Unlike the Moosey fridge, the garden doesn't need to be filled up with lots of new goodies for Christmas. Nor does it specifically need any Christmas presents. Of course, if the Head Gardener's Christmas present involves trailer-loads of compost, or bags of horse manure, these might need to be gently spread on Christmas day.
'Deck the beds with loads of compost
Tra-la-la-la-la....' and so on...
Time to Pose...
It's definitely time to pose for the Christmas garden photographs. Hmm... Do I really need to buy a brand new blue gardening shirt? Will Rusty the dog look silly wrapped up in green tinsel with a Christmas bauble around his neck? And will Fluff-Fluff the cat actually behave, relax, and look at the camera?
Official 2009 Christmas Photograph
You decide!