Yesterday I decided to cut the grass on a patch I’ve had my eye on for creating some sort of flower bed or two. So I went into the garden shed to gather all the things I needed. The key thing was the strimmer. I love using the strimmer. But, three years ago I couldn’t have told you what a strimmer was. Sure I knew about brush cutters but I didn’t know that there was one with string and it was called a strimmer. I just thought every long, spindly motorized device that was used to cut grass or weeds or brush of any kind was a brush cutter. But, I was duly educated a few years ago, and to be useful – and proclaim to my hubby that I was just as capable as him at doing things outdoors – I started using the strimmer. Well, that was it! I’ve been hooked ever since. I love the feeling of wielding the machine, seeing immediate results and having a job ticked off the list. Using the strimmer really makes me feel like I’m accomplishing things, and it’s such a great hurrah!
I hadn’t cut the grass and brush in this area since maybe August last year. It seems that whenever my lovely hubby cuts the lawn (using the strimmer or the lawnmower) he just conveniently turns his head and forgets about this flat grassy area which is connected to the main lawn by a grassy path around the garden shed. This has frustrated me greatly in the past. Anyway, I was doing it now and it was feeling good!
So I strimmed, and I strimmed.
Then I decided to do the slope up to the back yard area. Then I decided to do around the back of the house. Then I decided to do more to the front/ side of the house by the rosebush hedge I planted last year (the roses seem to have survived the winter gales so yay!).
I cut a lot of overgrown grass and brush. It felt really good. I swear I have finesse and artistry with it. I’d be a great hairdresser. No lie, these were my thoughts as I showed the brush who was the boss.
Then came the raking up and gathering up and tidying of all the cut brush. No problem. Took a while but it got done!
I was still on a high from being the all-powerful wonder that transformed a messy area to a divine oasis so I decided I could weed the little flower bed I had made last year. I grabbed my trusty hoe-pick (I forget it’s proper name, but one side is a flat hoe and the other is a short pick) – oh how I love that tool – and demolished the weeds in about 10 minutes. And, since the hoe-pick was in my hands what did I do but decide that I should double the size of the bed and carve out a semi circle by eyeball only. It took a bit of evening out but I did it! Nice.
The hoe-pick was still in my hands. That was a bad sign. Anybody looking on would have realized this. But, of course there was nobody looking on except for an old girl of a lovely Springer Spaniel that we have – she’s 15 and can’t see very well. So she wasn’t going to dissuade me from doing anything was she?
Yep, you got it… I started digging spots for some plants I wanted to transplant. Then after a few minutes I stepped back, an idea forming in my mind. It’s been a pain to remember to cut the grass in this area, and my industrious husband has been emptying the lawn cuttings into the small bed I prepared last year for my flowers, so clearly something wasn’t working here. And, as Sarah Beeny likes to emphasize in her show Renovate, Don’t Relocate, it’s important to understand how the space is actually being treated and find a function for it that keeps this in mind.
So the wonder-woman boss of the strimmer and hoe-pick had a fantabulous idea! There needed to be a few big flower beds here, so that all that remained would be a pathway through all the beds. And the path would be big enough for the lawn mower! Boom! Problem solved. The area would be pretty with flowers and shrubs, there would be no need to expend a lot of effort in cutting grass, and I already had the hoe-pick in my hand! I started outlining the semi-circular beds.
Then it hit me, I’ve just created a lot of work for myself. Anyway, FLOWERS! This is what I’m looking forward to! I’ll need to do a lot of seed sowing and plant dividing to fill these beds, but hey – an awesome project has just started.
Now to see about ordering some hair clippers. I think I’m qualified to give the hubby a trim and edge up (that’s what it’s called right?)
I’ll keep you updated on pictures as the transformation happens – it’ll probably take me a couple of days to dig out those beds!
