This year, instead of making the same resolutions that I’ve made for the past 10 years, I’m going to take a new direction. I will only make resolutions that I look forward to upholding, ones that will give me pleasure in the process.
I resolve to eat only the best chocolate and buy longer, more comfortable belts with more holes. In this liberated state of mind, I offer a few personal garden resolutions.
I will visit more gardens in 2015. Formal gardens, gardens of friends and neighbors, public gardens and the brand spanking new gardens they construct in a matter of days for model home developments. There are few things that leave a gardener in a better frame of mind than a garden visit. This includes the occasional visit to a garden flop that teaches us what not to do. Visiting other gardens is one of the best ways to get ideas for your own garden.
I will participate in a gardener’s group. I invite you to join me. Whether it’s a local group who meet once a month for tea and cookies to admire each other’s gardens or a large organization with scheduled field trips and speaking engagements, join a group. The more time you spend with other gardeners in garden-related endeavors, the happier you will be in all aspects of life.
One well-known organization that I highly recommend is Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. This world-famous group with a large Clark County faction, gives you immediate access to fellow gardeners, garden events and access to information through a bountiful garden library. Members are welcome to attend innumerable speaking engagements from local and imported garden experts.
Every year, willing HPSO members open their gardens to other members throughout the growing season. Membership includes visits to member’s gardens in Washington and Oregon from early spring to late fall. These “Open Gardens” run the gamut of design from pint sized back yards in the middle of the city to expansive country estates.
I resolve to sign up for at least one gardening class this summer. Gardeners have an insatiable interest in the gardening world and as a result an abundance of information is out there for us to learn. For every gardener who wants to learn, there is a fellow gardener who has something to teach. Shorty’s nursery offers talks by garden experts throughout the growing season. The Columbian offers a weekly calendar of garden events, plant sales and educational opportunities.
I resolve to volunteer in garden related organizations that benefit the community. In 2015 I’m making a commitment to volunteer in the Fort Vancouver interpretive garden which is part of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site just east of downtown Vancouver. If you haven’t paid a visit to the Fort Vancouver garden, come and discover the experience of a national treasure in our own backyard. The Master Gardener program is another fine way to commit to our ever growing garden community.
I resolve to trust my instincts. You know by now how important I think personality is to a garden. I want to get a glimpse of you when I see your garden. Formal gardens can be an inspiration. If you like abundance and color, plant trailing nasturtium in every flower border. If you get a kick out of fairies and gnomes, let them inhabit your garden. Nothing teaches you more about yourself than putting a personal stamp on your own garden. I want you to see me in my garden as well.
One resolution I’m looking forward to this year is to putter more. I’ve found that the longer I garden, the better I get at puttering. By puttering, spending active time without a strict agenda, you put a sense of ease into every effort. You envision a lot. Sit with a cup of coffee where you hope to build a deck. Take a book with you and read a few pages before locating a site for a garden reading nook. Take a nap where you might string a hammock.
As I make this list of resolutions I see how gardening is steeped in possibilities and how a resolution is nothing more than the first step in a commitment. Take a moment now to imagine how good you will feel at the end of this year when you’ve accomplished all the things you set out to do at the beginning. From now on, I resolve to make only resolutions that I truly intend to keep.
Robb Rosser is a WSU-certified master gardener.
