Posted by Sunset, August 6, 2009 in Garden lore
By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine
Sharon Cohoon and I were taken with an editorial by Fine Gardening's editor Steve Aitken, who was musing about the hard truths of gardening. There are so many of these that it's hard to know where to begin.
• Dogs mess up your garden.
• Cats mess in your garden.
• Many plants you cherish most (like Japanese maples) will be doomed by incurable diseases (like verticillium).
• Sometimes big box stores sell great plants you really want for shockingly low prices.
• Sometimes the most interesting plants in big box stores are unfamiliar because they don’t have a chance of surviving your climate.
• Some organic pest controls are worthless.
• Hybrid vegetables are often better garden performers than open pollinated versions of the same thing.
• Sometimes it’s as therapeutic as it is illegal to throw dirt clods at crows.
• The more effective you are at trapping moles, squirrels, or gophers, the bigger the biological vaccuum you create for surrounding moles, squirrels, and gophers to move into.
• Too many chemicals, no matter how effective, will eventually wreck the planet.
• Tree topping is usually evil, always expensive, rarely effective, and dependably ugly.
• Sometimes unlimited money just allows tasteless gardeners to fully express themselves.
So that's my opening list. What would you add? (Sharon's list is coming.)
