on gardening

alice bradley is moving from the 'burbs back into brooklyn, from when she came. i am positive that she has many many reasons for doing so, but the one i can relate to the most is the mulch. when we lived downtown, our house had a yard filled with lovely blooming things that had been planted 50 years earlier and loved long enough to become well established. the grass would not grow, but there was always something lovely and interesting going on. i had ideas then of gardening--of what i would one day do, given a yard of my own. i have a yard of my own now. i hate my yard. i hate my lack of time for it and how it alwyas looks just half-assed. i have these pictures in my head of what it may one day be, but in truth, i just don't see how it's ever going to get there--at least not till the kid is about 10 and able to help trim the holly bushes that threaten to overtake the porch. someone should really do something about all the plants i have that need to go into the ground. someone should also maybe finish the Great Soil Amendment Project of 2008^* that i started last march while still pregnant and filled with illusions of grandeur. someday i will finish it. someday i will plant trees. and bulbs so i have daffodils in the spring. someday i will repot all my houseplants. someday i will mulch. meredith's coming into town this weekend. maybe i'll make her hold the baby while i work on the yard.

* the flower bed in the front of my house is full of builder's detritus and clay. i've been slowly digging this out and amending the "soil" with a mixture of peat moss, perlite, and fertilizer. it's working wonders for the weeds adjacent to the bed, and i am guessing would also be good for the plants in the bed, were there any. the hippie pokes fun at me for "planting dirt", but i maintain that this must be done before we plant anything else. last time i checked, plants and bulbs did not find tar paper and 10-penny nails nourishing. but i digress...