TOILING IN THE GARDEN
Pottering in the garden is something I would usually associate with a pastime that older people do, or at least those who like to take on milder forms of physical exercise doing their hobbies.
However, when a garden has gone wild, clearing the bramble, creepers and overgrown privets, takes a lot of physically hard work - as I've found out today.
About 15 years ago, when I'd reached a peak of irritation with my job at that time, I decided to take a summer off and do something outdoors that offered a more physical and less mentally taxing role. It turned out that gardening was the best option for me, where someone with no training could carry out the tasks required to make a garden look nice. Through my contacts at the time, it turned out to be relatively easy to find work in and around some of the communal squares and green spaces of west London.
It was a particularly warm and sunny summer that year. And the work, a little back-breaking at times, was actually very rewarding. To be fair, a lot of the work merely involved planting some bulbs or flowers, turning the soil over, mowing the odd lawn or trimming an already well managed hedge. It was easy to maintain these private gardens without much extra effort. I'm now carrying out the same kind of work this summer, and although I haven't really had the sun as often as I'd liked, it's still rewarding. The south Londoners don't seem to keep their gardens quite so quaffed as their west London neighbours, so it's a lot more effort to get these gardens looking good. Hence today's struggle with an out of control rose bush and manic creepers.
I managed to get the rose bush down and I thought I may have killed it by pruning it back so much.....apparently not! They are particularly hardy bushes and the fact I've taken it back by over half was actually the right thing to do. The hardest thing has been breaking some of the half inch thick stems down to get them in the gardening bags before the downpour. All in all though, it was a tough but rewarding job and I'm sure with better management, the bush will be in much better shape come the spring next year.
About 15 years ago, when I'd reached a peak of irritation with my job at that time, I decided to take a summer off and do something outdoors that offered a more physical and less mentally taxing role. It turned out that gardening was the best option for me, where someone with no training could carry out the tasks required to make a garden look nice. Through my contacts at the time, it turned out to be relatively easy to find work in and around some of the communal squares and green spaces of west London.
It was a particularly warm and sunny summer that year. And the work, a little back-breaking at times, was actually very rewarding. To be fair, a lot of the work merely involved planting some bulbs or flowers, turning the soil over, mowing the odd lawn or trimming an already well managed hedge. It was easy to maintain these private gardens without much extra effort. I'm now carrying out the same kind of work this summer, and although I haven't really had the sun as often as I'd liked, it's still rewarding. The south Londoners don't seem to keep their gardens quite so quaffed as their west London neighbours, so it's a lot more effort to get these gardens looking good. Hence today's struggle with an out of control rose bush and manic creepers.
I managed to get the rose bush down and I thought I may have killed it by pruning it back so much.....apparently not! They are particularly hardy bushes and the fact I've taken it back by over half was actually the right thing to do. The hardest thing has been breaking some of the half inch thick stems down to get them in the gardening bags before the downpour. All in all though, it was a tough but rewarding job and I'm sure with better management, the bush will be in much better shape come the spring next year.
As to me being in better shape tomorrow for more of the same gardening tasks, not so sure I can take many more lashes from the monster thorns, but it's still great knowing I have another string to the bow. My next week of work is already shaping up nicely with 5 different kinds of jobs lined up.
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