7. Abundance in the Vegetable Garden? Was your vegetable garden an ongoing source of inspired meals or a general disappointment? I know every season we vow not to put in so many tomato plants next year. We make not be able to control our spring splurges, but we can take stock of things like what got shaded out by the corn, wouldn’t 2 week plantings of a single rows of bush beans be better than giant blocks that all mature at once, how much broccoli do you really need and if no one is going to eat the okra, why are you growing it?
8. Did You Smell the Roses? Did you spend anytime sitting and enjoying your garden or better still, entertaining in your garden. It’s a joy to work in a garden, but you need to take time to appreciate what you’ve created. If you don’t have a seating area (or 2 or 3) in your garden, design one this winter. Whether it’s a small table and chairs, a couple of Adirondack chairs or a stone patio with a fire pit, if you build it, they will come. Nothing pulls guests into the garden faster than a chair with a view.
9. Lost Your Gardening Mojo? Did some plant or task annoy you so much, you started to dread going out in the garden? It happens to the most enthusiastic gardener: a plant that needs to be deadheaded hourly or that takes hours to deadhead, tall flowers that knock over their stakes, a prima dona plant that is either wilting or looking ill, tomatoes that cracked or turned black or just never turned red. Get rid of it. Whatever it is, it’s not worth the aggravation. There are literally millions of plants out there. Find a substitute and put the joy back in gardening.
10. Still Not Sure What the Problem Is? Can't quite pinpoint the problem, but you're just not happy with the looks of things? Take a black & white photo of your garden. Without the distraction of color, you can really see the shapes and contrasts in your garden. Now look and see if you are missing a key element of garden design. If the picture looks like fuzzy chaos, you have too much delicate foliage or maybe too much variety. Try some large leaved plants or make larger groupings of favorite plants. If it looks like the border is one flat level, add some height with a dwarf tree or conical evergreen. You could also add a vine covered obelisk, a large planted urn or just some tall growers in the background, like Cimicifuga or canna.
It will take some fine tuning, but that's supposed to be the fun of gardening. Don't forget to review the first 5 Tips for Evaluating This Year’s Garden and Planning a Better Garden for Next Year.
