Gardening

[Zaukrie]

Whut?



Whut?

Pretend for a moment I don’t know what all those many abbreviations mean!

I’m not so worried about the vegetables and stuff. That’s only a tiny part of the garden. It’s mainly the lawn to be honest. Rain, dogs, and a hard clay base below the soil makes for a terrible combination. Really it needs drainage channels drilled in deep, but that’s an expensive proposition.

The rose bushes on the other hand seem pretty rough. They come back every year without fail and just need a bit of pruning.

The cherry tree is nice but the birds get them before we do. I don’t really begrudge them it though.

Sorry, there was a post where he said Pacific Northwest (PNW, in the US, Oregon).....but, ya. Sorry. MN is Minnesota, a very hot and humid place in the summer, and cold and wintry in the winter. Very hard to garden there.

I largely dug up my grass, and had the kids play at the local park more! Much easier for me to take care of things other than grass since both my neighbors didn't take care of their lawns and we had this weed that was nearly unkillable. Also, I just decided at some point that I don't want to fertilize and mow and put down weed killer anymore.....but, if there was not a park very close to our house, I would have wanted more lawn. I'm not sure how to have a lawn for kids to play on, and not have grass as a general rule. I'm well past that stage of life, though, so we've eliminated all the grass in our yard in Oregon (it is also a pretty small yard).

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Our living room is once again serving as an incubator for the Shiverspouse's vegetable garden, until the temps are more ... temperate. Nice to have the fresh veggies come summer and fall though.

I feel the giant lawn space. We don't have drainage problems, luckily, but at .8 acres of mostly open lawn which must remain so for the dog agility training space, I've found paying someone to come mow and edge (and clean up oak and maple leaves come autumn) has been worth it for my sanity. I detest yard work.

 

[Zaukrie]

Interestingly....in the US, we don't refer to the grassy part as gardening. That's a lawn, and we say taking care of the lawn. Other kinds of plants are gardens.

 

[Morrus]

Interestingly....in the US, we don't refer to the grassy part as gardening. That's a lawn, and we say taking care of the lawn. Other kinds of plants are gardens.

When I say “garden”, read as “yard”. I think that’s your equivalent term.

 

[Zaukrie]

When I say “garden”, read as “yard”. I think that’s your equivalent term.

Yup, I figured that out eventually.

Gardening (lawn) is tough for sure. I'm hoping we get a good alternative to grass someday, that is easier to care for.

 

[overgeeked]

Also in the PNW and enjoy gardening of the non-grass variety. Growing perennials instead of annuals, natives instead of imported always makes things a lot easier. As mentioned, mulch or leaf mold are fantastic for water retention.

We're doing mostly small container gardening now as we're planning on moving this year. We have Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, potatoes, and tiger nuts in, with the pumpkin waiting until the end of May.

 

[jian]

So, just for clarification and cultural comparison, I would say that in the UK, the word “garden” refers to front/rear/side areas attached to a house which aren’t for parking and are primarily decorative or for leisure purposes. It should have some plants but a paved area designed for sitting out in the summer (“patio*”) with one potted plant where you don’t park a car is still technically a garden. “Gardening” tends to refer to all work to maintain a garden, especially the plants. So mowing the lawn, planting and fertilising shrubs, watering potted plants etc all count as gardening. I would probably say that laying patio slabs, oiling a deck, paving an area, pressure washing your patio etc doesn’t count as gardening, but YMMV. Other Brits, please feel free to disagree with me here.

*It’s an obscure classical joke to say that the derivation of patio is from the Latin for “I suffer” but that’s actually pasco. The Latin word patio means “I wait or am patient” as in the word patient.

The equivalent word for gardening in North America seems to be “yardwork” but that seems to refer to all aspects of caring for a yard, including gardening but also caring for paving or decking. Is that correct, do we think?

 

[SkidAce]

First time raking in spring use these:

to avoid this!

 

[Morrus]

So, just for clarification and cultural comparison, I would say that in the UK, the word “garden” refers to front/rear/side areas attached to a house which aren’t for parking and are primarily decorative or for leisure purposes. It should have some plants but a paved area designed for sitting out in the summer (“patio*”) with one potted plant where you don’t park a car is still technically a garden. “Gardening” tends to refer to all work to maintain a garden, especially the plants. So mowing the lawn, planting and fertilising shrubs, watering potted plants etc all count as gardening. I would probably say that laying patio slabs, oiling a deck, paving an area, pressure washing your patio etc doesn’t count as gardening, but YMMV. Other Brits, please feel free to disagree with me here.

*It’s an obscure classical joke to say that the derivation of patio is from the Latin for “I suffer” but that’s actually pasco. The Latin word patio means “I wait or am patient” as in the word patient.

The equivalent word for gardening in North America seems to be “yardwork” but that seems to refer to all aspects of caring for a yard, including gardening but also caring for paving or decking. Is that correct, do we think?

Seems reasonable to me!