About In-Ground Miniature Gardening
~> TAKING IT EASY <~
Its time for my yearly reminder! And please know that this SO happens in full-sized gardens and, alright, it can happen in almost any kind of project for that matter.
It was the famous philosopher, Socrates, who said it best:
" Better do a little well, than a great deal badly."
We tend to try to do too much, all at once, right from the start. And who wouldn't with so many juicy ideas dancing in your head at all hours of the day or night? So many things we could do and, especially if you are working in-ground, there is the room to do it too!
But with miniature gardening, you can take it easy AND make it easy on yourself by working small(er) sections of the layout each season and add to it as you go. This is especially useful if you have not grown an in-ground miniature garden or fairy garden yet. It's also useful because you'll find out what you like, and what you don't like, so you aren't saddled with something that doesn't please you - and life is way too short for that.
Speaking from Experience:
When I moved in to my new house 11 years ago, I built a huge miniature garden that was very fun at first, perhaps for the first couple of years. But whenever life got busy, or the weather too hot in the summer, or too cold and wet in the winter, or filled with work, or... - the garden went to the weeds. I would bust my chops weeding it only to have it "go
to the weeds" again in a couple/few weeks when I got busy - again. I just couldn't keep up. I simply needed to hire help, or downsize.
So I've since taken out half of the miniature garden and that might still be too big because I STILL haven't been able to get on top of the weeds yet! But you can see what I mean, right?
So, What to Do?
Whether you are designing a mini garden from scratch or renovating it, make it your priority to get the plants taken care of first. Get them out of their nursery pots and into the ground (or at least a bigger container,) before they realize they don't have any more room to grow. It's spring and they do want to grow. Of course leave room for the patios and pathways to build later,
and only focus on the beds right now.
THEN, after all the plants are safely in the ground, you can work on your patios, pathways, accessory set-ups, etc. An hour after work each evening or several hours once a week is very doable - and of course you can do more if you have the time and the inclination.
It's just during this growing period and into the summer months, that newly-bought plants will need repotting. (When the plants are dormant, that is when you can leave them in the nursery pots until you are ready to plant.) So start with the garden bed and get the plants planted and watered in - then you'll have plenty of time to figure everything else out.