Nobody hands you a rulebook when you plant your first garden.
There isn’t a certification exam, a secret handshake, or an official membership card. Yet somewhere between your first packet of seeds and your first successful harvest, you begin following a set of unwritten rules that gardeners everywhere seem to understand.
If you’ve spent any time digging, planting, watering, or wondering why the squirrels find your backyard so fascinating, these rules may sound familiar.
Rule #1: Check on Your Plants…Frequently
Unlike humans, plants aren’t very demanding.
They just need to be watered and photosynthesized (I sometimes wonder if I’d be better off as a plant).
Right, anyway, most gardeners don’t simply water their plants and move on with their day. They inspect them.
Morning, afternoon, and evening all seem like perfectly reasonable times to see whether the tomatoes have grown another quarter inch or if that stubborn pepper plant has finally decided to cooperate.
Has anything changed since breakfast? Probably not, but it’s worth checking anyway.
Rule #2: Take Weeds Personally
Weeds are jerks.
They appear overnight, usually in the exact spot you cleared yesterday.
What begins as a quick five-minute weeding session somehow turns into an hour of determined persistence. Before long, you’re carrying a bucket full of dandelions and wondering where they all came from.
The garden may not be weed-free, but you’ve certainly made your point.
Rule #3: Never Give Up on a Plant Too Soon
A struggling plant isn’t giving up on you; it’s having a rough week.
Gardeners are eternal optimists. They’ll move a plant to a sunnier location, add water, trim a few leaves, adjust the soil, and offer a few encouraging words for good measure. Sometimes that extra attention pays off.
Other times…well, every garden teaches a lesson.
Rule #4: Defend Your Garden With Honor
To rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and deer, a carefully planted garden looks remarkably similar to an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Gardeners respond with fencing, netting, creative deterrents, and the occasional dramatic wave from the back porch. It’s an ongoing contest, and while the score isn’t always in the gardener’s favor, hope springs eternal every growing season.
A word on chipmunks: they are the opposite of sheepish. At least a rabbit will look at you when you bust it eating your chives. Chipmunks, on the other hand, scurry away as if saying, “Nothing to see here.”
They take no ownership for their actions.
Rule #5: Share the Harvest
Every gardener dreams of a productive season.
Then August arrives, and suddenly there are enough tomatoes, zucchini, herbs, or cucumbers to feed the neighborhood.
That’s when the sharing begins. Friends stop by and leave with vegetables, neighbors receive surprise deliveries, and family members quickly learn that declining fresh produce is rarely accepted as a final answer.
🌷 SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT 🌷
And you thought we’d yammer on about gardening without having something to show for it. Did you think that? Maybe it’s just my imagination.
Anyway, check out our awesome Gardner’s Delight Gift Basket, built in a garden-themed tin and blooming with: Seed & Sprout garden set (including a colorful half apron; hand spade and hand trowel); Garden Notes books; cookies; Davidson tea; almond or cashews; and a mini honey jar.
As Voltaire wrote, “We must cultivate our garden.”
Go on and order this and start cultivating!
About BasketWorks
BasketWorks is a woman-owned gift basket company located in the north suburbs of Chicago (specifically Northbrook, IL) since 1997. We are proud to offer a variety of gifts and gift baskets appropriate for all occasions. Each of our packages is built to order, allowing for customization at no additional cost to our clients. Contact us today!
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