• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • The Gardenangelists Podcast
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

A few little attentions make for success in the garden

April 19, 2013 By Carol Michel 6 Comments

Lettuce and radishes are coming up in the veg. garden

I’ve discovered  “a few little attentions which make for success in the garden and minimize the sum of the season’s work” hidden in an old gardening book.

They were buried in the introduction of The Busy Woman’s Garden Book by Ida D. Bennett (1920).

When I read them, I realized that I’d be embarrassed to have Bennett visit my garden right now. No doubt she’d shake her head, point a finger at my weeds, and tell me to pay a little more attention to my garden.

Would she point out any of these attentions to you if she visited your garden?

The first attention of note is “your garden will give back to you must what you put into it – no more, and the more you give to it the less it will exact of you; neglect it ever so little and it will prove a hard taskmaster indeed…”

In other words, pay attention to your garden because it takes a lot of work to turn a neglected garden into a garden that gives back more than you give it.

The second attention is “one cannot garden successfully on the principle that one can work in the garden when there is nothing else to do, no one to play with, nowhere to go”.

Easy to say but hard to do sometimes – garden first, then go do something else.

The third attention is “there are always critical times in the life of the garden; – the gardener must recognize these and be prepared to give just the assistance the condition requires at just the time it is required”.  She also wrote, “The failure to co-operate with nature at the right time may result in many hours of wearisome work.”

Seems pretty simple. Just do each task in the season and time it is intended to be done – plant in the spring, harvest in the summer, clean up in the fall and the tasks will be easier tod o.

The fourth attention is “if the planting is closely watched and the weeds cut off as quickly as they show a seed leaf above ground, and before they have stuck their roots deeply enough into the ground to make more than a mere stirring of the soil necessary, an entire week’s crop of weeds will be destroyed with one stirring of the soil”.

I can never quite quite do this. Pull weeds when they are little, and you’ll have no trouble with weeds at all.  By the way, this is also one of Loudon’s rules of horticulture.

The fifth attention is “There is much in choosing the right time of day for work in the garden”.

Of course, use the day to your advantage. Weed in the morning, transplant late in the day. Then the weeds will fry in the heat of the day, and the transplants will thrive in the cool of the night.  At least that’s Bennett’s theory.

I do need to pay more attention in my garden and soon, before the henbit takes over again, before it is too late to plant, before I have anyone like Ida D. Bennett come and see my garden.

A little henbit and a dandelion under a viburnum

 Bennett might not like seeing all this lack of attention.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: books, gardening

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Yvonne says

    April 19, 2013 at 12:04 pm

    Timing is everything I guess. Lovely post.

    Reply
  2. Dee Cord Hogg says

    April 19, 2013 at 12:56 pm

    Greeerrrr—HENBIT! Chop, cut, pull I wish there was way to just CURSE the darn stuff and make it NEVER EVER COME UP AGAIN!

    Reply
  3. Covegirl says

    April 19, 2013 at 2:21 pm

    Gotta keep up with the weeds!

    Reply
  4. Angie says

    April 19, 2013 at 5:03 pm

    I have to admit I'm a bit obsessive when I comes to weeding – then I have a little moan that nothing sets seed in my garden. I wonder why?????

    Reply
  5. Lisa at Greenbow says

    April 19, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    She would faint if she saw the part of the garden that hasn't had any attention yet. Ha… so it goes.

    Reply
  6. vic says

    April 20, 2013 at 10:59 pm

    So that's henbit. Who knew? I did know that plant was a weed but had no name for it. Now I can really give it the dickens and it will know exactly who I am talking to. No more, "Oh, I didn't realize you meant ME".

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,199)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Sign Up for Lost Ladies of Garden Writing

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT