I'd never gardened before – these were the unexpected lessons I learnt in my first weekend
I thought gardening would be hard work and not much fun, but one weekend of weeding, raking and tidying completely changed my mind
Content creator Lucy Kalice is one of Ideal Home's Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on cleaning, home decor and making the most of small spaces. See the rest of her articles here.
Last week was a big day in our household, it was the first time I’d picked up a rake and did some gardening…ever! After two years of staring out the back doors to dull grey fences, dried grass and enough weeds to qualify as a nature reserve, we’ve caved. We’ve finally started our garden makeover!
I’d always said the garden was my husband’s domain, he was loving taking care of the grass each year and two years ago he even built a bar at the back. But after going on quite a few trips this year, the garden had been neglected and was in a really bad state. Even the garden furniture doesn’t have any cushions so I’ve been sitting on the base of it with just a towel as a pillow…not the most comfortable or glamorous.
So last weekend we decided to start our garden transformation. We spent all weekend de-weeding, watering and seeding the grass and tidying it all up. And we have big big plans about what we want to do with it – I’m envisioning a pinterest-perfect garden with new painted fences, new furniture and some colourful plants and trees.
We have a long way to go but I’m confident we can sort it way before the end of summer (that’s if the weather keeps playing ball!).
Now we don’t have a big garden so my initial thought was how long would the de-weeding and tidying take? The answer: hours. The first lesson I learnt is that gardening is not a quick job, it’s a labour of love.
But what I quickly realised was how therapeutic and enjoyable it was. We all know it’s good to spend time outdoors and in nature, but this was a real mood-booster and gave me a huge sense of accomplishment when it was all done.
One of the nicest things was that it was time spent away from my phone and without distraction. I will admit that I am guilty of doom-scrolling and checking my phone even when there’s no notification there (I think we all are).
So to spend hours doing something productive and away from my phone was refreshing. And as someone who doesn’t love bugs, hates spiders and doesn’t really enjoy getting dirty, I really surprised myself with how much I enjoyed it.
However, that’s not to say it was easy. First of all, who was going to tell me that gardening is a workout??? If I’d have known I would’ve been out there sooner! It’s physically demanding – raking the lawn and pulling up the weeds was making me break a sweat as if i’d just spent an hour in the gym.
It’s also a great way to top up your tan and get some vitamin D, especially with all this glorious weather we’ve been having in the UK!
But there was one downside, the next day I woke up and my back was in agony. Hours spent hunched over chopping plants and pulling weeds will do that to you apparently and now I understand why people have those kneeling pads *reminder to self I must buy one*.
The garden is looking a lot tidier now and I’m sure I will learn a lot more throughout our garden transformation but one things for sure, gardening is good for the mind and body and is a hobby for all!
