Turning a "Black" Thumb Green

"My gardens have given me permission to experiment, break rules, and foster a rebellious streak that is an important but often pushed aside part of who I am.

Our gardens should be a free space where each of us can find joy, make discoveries, and feel whole. Guilt, shame, and feelings of insecurity have no place there." - Gayla Trail

I recently conducted a small discussion with some lovely ladies from my Sister's neighborhood about vegetable gardening, as well as trying to have visual interest in the ornamental garden all summer long. Toward the end of this discussion a sweet lady exhaled;"So much to do, it makes me not want to even start." This was of course the complete opposite feeling I wanted my audience to leave with - my thoughts turned to this post on the blog You Grow Girl I recently read. It explored many thoughts I have had about being a gardener and the frustrations so many have expressed to me regarding their "black" thumbs. For heaven sakes, it is the reason I have started this business around the idea "that many would like to get their hands dirty and ‘dig’ in the dirt – but most just aren’t sure where to start."

Gayla outlined her thoughts into 4 points:
Experience + Consistency & Persistence + Observation & Adaptation + Failure

A difficult part of gardening for some is the lack of exactness and the reality that the materials used grow and change. This is a particularly difficult variable in the aspect of design - most materials used to design with are man made materials that do not change, they don't live and die and come back to life again each year. Personally this to me is in large the beauty in designing with such a material, but it can feel overwhelming and frustrating to many.

Example; one may be frustrated that there is lackluster in their ornamental garden in the month of June. Through experience you will start to notice the holes that exists in your garden. When you are consistent with the care of your garden you may notice plants will bloom longer for you.When you are an observant gardener you can take note of those plants that do bloom in the 4 week void you would like to fill in other gardens around you. And If you will accept failure; acceptance in the reality that the material you are choosing to work with is a living being that will at times die or accepting that you will sometimes fail in the care of your garden and are willing to learn from those mistakes you will find that you have not only - through time - filled that gap in your garden but have gained confidence in your own ability to be a gardener.

"In the real world gardeners kill plants and gardens get pests and diseases. Sometimes life gets in the way and we don’t have the money to buy something we want or the time to commit to making our garden the showpiece we would like it to be. This is not evidence that you have a Black Thumb. More importantly, you learn more when you are willing to take chances & give yourself space to screw up. It’s often in those failures that we have the biggest AHA! moments." - Gayla Trail

No black thumbs my friends, just green thumbs in progress!

Not sure how to get started down the path to a green thumb? I give consultations!