An earlier ‘Musing’ described the importance of manageable plots for fruit and vegetable growing as we concluded that it was best to “think big but start small”.

This issue of manageable plots has come to the fore in our minds recently with regard to our small back garden, which ought to be easily manageable.  However, with poor weather over the summer and other growing priorities, the allotment and Mark’s kitchen garden work, we let the back garden slide.  The odd burst of weeding and a hasty mow when weather permitted kept things just about under control, but a closer look revealed that chunks of the garden were growing out of control.

A few weeks ago a pleasant afternoon stimulated a burst of activity.  The immediate visual improvement provided the catalyst to a concerted effort of pruning, weeding and tidying to the point where we now have a fairly solid framework for the next few years and are planning further developments for next spring.

The impetus provided by some positive visual feedback was quite remarkable, but should not have been that surprising.  Mark has already seen this in a couple of jobs, where bringing a garden or vegetable plot back under control has stimulated the interest of the owners and inspired renewed efforts, overcoming the inertia that had been built up by the depressing spectacle of an out of control bed.

Sometimes it needs the purchase of a little extra external effort to overcome the inertia, sometimes a small focused effort that yields a tangible reward in terms of the aesthetics of the plot can be enough to re-invigorate the inner gardener, however much we have been beaten down by the weather.  If you can see the difference, so can other people, but more importantly if you can see the difference, you know it was worth the effort.