I have been away all week in Toronto.  A medical appointment brought me in, but I also combined that with lunch with friends, dinner with the kids, and a hair cut.  (Yes, this was #2 since my chemo hair started to grow back!!)  I also met with my tax accountant, blah blah.    I’ve enjoyed the break.  For approximately a day and a half, I went without a car – which gave me the perfect excuse to do nothing.   Can’t pack – because I have no boxes.  No dog to walk.  No pressure to prepare meals.   There have been a few hardships, like this morning when I woke up again with no car and NO COFFEE!!   But for the most part it has been quite a nice break by myself.  

This downtime has give me an opportunity to do some planning and prioritizing.   I’m in trouble and need to have a plan and to stick to it.    The issue is how am I going to tackle all of my gardening this year when:  a)  I have no gardens prepared – just lots of sprouts in a greenhouse, and existing perennials  to be transported b) I have no energy to do physical work, c) May 24th – the official due date for all gardens  AND my moving date are less than six weeks away.  

Time is a ticking. Obviously I need a plan. A vision and a plan.  I must be reasonable about my limitations and break down what needs to be done into mini sub-projects.  That way I will have a schedule to follow and I should be able to progress nicely towards my goals.  I may only have a few minutes/hours to give the projects before I peter out but at least I will know what I have to focus my attention on at that moment.    

I think I also need a back-up plan in case, for some reason I can’t achieve all my goals.   For instance, maybe I won’t be able to build a full perennial garden by May 24th. (ha ha – doubtful).  But  I can plan it all out now, and get a site ready for eventual planting.   I can dig the bed, improve the soil and maybe only plant in my little sprouting annual seeds and herbs.  This summer I would at least have something in the garden.  Next fall,  I could plant the perennials just the way I want them. 

So here I go:

Step 1  Clarify what my goals are: 

Goal number 1: 

• Create a respectable front garden because currently I have a very poor front lawn and my front garden is empty with no foundation plants.   Remember –  I have already pulled out the old over grown shrubs. 

Goal number 2:

• Create a new bed.  

 I will save a fortune if I separate and transplant some of my existing Toronto perennials.  However, before I do that I must have a nice bed ready with healthy soil.  My short-term plan is to pop  the Toronto transplants quickly in the ground now and potentially move them again in the fall to ideal spots and groupings. 

                                            (In my future dream garden I will group the peonies and irises together because they bloom at the same time.  Ooooo maybe I will also do an underplanting of allium!! ) 

I also can not imagine a summer without some flowering long stem plants to use as cuttings for a boutique.  I must also have some wonderful smelling herbs.  What is a summer walk around your property without reaching down to pluck and squeeze a mint or lavender leaf?   These are “must-haves” for me. 

The seeds for these flowering annuals and herbs are currently sprouting in my greenhouse. (California poppy, yarrow, cosmos, cleome, helianthus, clives, mint,  leeks, sage, dill – to name a few). 

So I have two goals.  Let’s now call them “Project Front Bed” and “Project New Bed”.  Both are of equal importance, but if I’m honest I would say that I can not live without fixing up the front beds.  You know my concern.  What would the neighbours think?  (first impressions/ curb appeal stuff)   

IF…. for some reason I was not able to complete “Project New Bed”  – life would go on.  I could always use containers, or go without cuttings this summer.  But that would be very sad 😦     and I have already started my seedlings.      NO! NO!   That’s not going to happen.  This only motivates me more.   I must complete both projects!   

Step two;     I will list all of the steps and stages to reaching my goals.  That will help me prioritize the tasks and what to tackle first.  

Step three:   I will  list my resources – inventory of what plants I have now, what I hope to grow from seed,  what is coming from my Toronto perennial garden and what I will add in next year.  

Step four:   I will draw up a realistic schedule with lots and lots of room for breaks and trips to Toronto to pack. 

This plan and in particular step #3 will hopefully prevent me from jumping ahead and buying lots of plants now – before I am ready for them.   This has always been a problem for me.   I love the shopping part.  Ooo  fun times at the gardening centre.   It’s the implementation part that is a drag. 

 Tomorrow I will start on Step 2.  🙂