“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

Lao Tzu

Have you also noticed that everything is easier to accomplish in the garden in the spring?  Pull a weed now and it comes up easily.  Dig a tiny hole to plant a plug rather than a large hole for a gallon sized perennial.  Prune a small branch now and you won’t need to saw it off later. 

It is easier to see what’s what and what’s where in the spring.  Everything but the shrubs is still low to the ground. Leaves are small and spaces wide.  Everything still seems possible.

The second week of April may be one of my favorite weeks of the entire year.  Azaleas and dogwood bloom, birds sing and nights remain cool.  The ferns are springing up almost overnight, seeds are germinating and the very first Iris bloomed.  I’ve been relieved to discover a few ferns that I was nervous about unfurling their first fronds of the season. They survived our cold spells this winter.  It has been an absolutely beautiful spring week here.  There is something interesting to see and enjoy most everywhere you look. 

I even spotted a few rose buds beginning to open today.  These are antique style climbing roses whose canes have grown up into nearby trees, well beyond the reach of the deer.  The variety is called, ‘The Generous Gardener.’  It has become one of my favorites because it blooms beautifully without any spraying or fussing over it.  I’m only just realizing that I was too busy today to even stop and take a photo of those first buds of the season.

Early April can also feel a bit overwhelming with the sheer number of garden related tasks to accomplish.  I prepare to do one or two small things, but see a half-dozen other ‘little’ things to do along the way.  The more you look around, the more tasks present themselves, and I’m literally moving around in circles going back to finish what was started.  We all have limits on time and stamina.  That is why it makes the most sense to take care of tasks when they are small and require the last effort. 

I was pleased to notice the Spanish lavender in bloom below the first of the Iris.  Spring still seems to be on ‘fast-forward’ here as we continue to have unusually warm weather.  Buds are already swelling on the Mountain Laurel.  I think of roses and Mountain Laurel as very late April or May flowers. The late season daffodils are still in bud and bloom, but we’re already moving on to the early summer flowers, too.  Who can complain about too many flowers at once?

I can.  And I do complain about the native goldenrod, Solidago ssp., that continues to run rampant through my other plantings in parts of our garden.  The mass of golden flowers is striking in October.  I’ll admit that.  But the plants are weedy and greedy from April until I hack them back in December.  And they choke out other plants I would rather enjoy all spring and summer long.

So I have been pulling five or so goldenrod sprouts for every new little perennial or herb I plant.  I’ve been trying to pull them out when they are anywhere near the Irises, and if they are too close to anything else that I want to let live.  The plan is to remove as many as I can while they are young and soft and fill in those spaces with something else that will fill in quickly. Maybe that will limit new sprouts coming up from their roots and rhizomes.  We’ll know by June whether the plan works.

We are secretly hoping to get a really good head start on the season this year so that by the time things really heat up here next month we can basically let it be, other than watering when we have a dry spell.  Most of us probably indulge in that pipe dream each spring. 

Stephen Covey, in his The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People advises, “Begin with the end in mind.”  That is good advice and applies as well in the garden as in the classroom or office.  Truth be told, our work begins long before we pull on our gloves and head outside.  It begins with a vision and a plan.  But that vision remains only a dream until we get out there and pull the weeds, prune the stray branches, plant the plugs and water it all in.

I’m confident that this year will be our best yet in the garden.  May it always be so…

With appreciation to Jim Stephens of Garden Ruminations, who hosts Six on Saturday each week.

You might enjoy my new series of posts, Plants I Love That Deer Ignore.

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