I mentioned in another thread we're trying to get the garden under control and this Helleborus is on its way out due to overcrowding. I've been considering transplanting it but my husband doesn't want to plant it anywhere else but some members here think I should save it. Going back a year and a half my husband planted sweet peas in a small garden at the back of the shed. And put up a netting. I'm like what???!!! We have an overgrown garden in the front, in the back, in the side, and everywhere inbetween and you are planting sweet peas without discussing it with me first. Especially since I wanted to plant a hydrangea there eventually. And especially since he did zippo when it came to weeding this area. And just for the record, I have nothing against those very pretty sweet peas. I've grown them in the past. I didn't think it was an appropriate time to be planting something new that takes work when we have a massive undertaking elsewhere in our yard. That was last year. This year nothing planted there. The netting is still up and the garden is full of weeds. Husband did take the weed wacker to it last week. So I told him that's where I'm going to transplant the Helleborus. He seems resigned to it but was complaining about having to reinforce the back of the shed so it won't rot out due to the plant in front of it. And now he's cranky about where I want to transplant a rhodendron in the back yard!
Men!! When will they ever learn that we women know best. Unless they're prepared to do their fair share of the hard work in a garden then they don't have an opinion on where anything gets planted. My other half is great at planting up seeds in the greenhouse but after that everything else is left up to me. He does pick the fruit when it's ripe though and considers that's his share of the work. Still they do come in handy sometimes when heavy rocks have to be moved. Just bribe them with food and they'll do almost anything for you.
Are there men who "work" in the garden? :-? Sorry guys, but I thought you only did the "glory work". You know chain saws, heavy machinery and such. That seems to be the understanding my partner and I have come to. As far as deciding where the plants, walkways, patios, and paths go or how big the beds will be is all my work, and joy. Our first year together he managed to help in the garden weeding out a row of green beans and pulling up a newly planted grape vine. After that blow-out poor guy was too afraid to enter the garden for quite a while. My sweetie is good at the "glory work" and helping me with the heavy stuff. He also complains that I weed too much leaving a mess. I wouldn't trade him for the world.
I'm so glad you're saving the Helleborus. They're such nice, easy plants. Good luck with getting your garden together. We've lived here for thirteen years, and we're still getting the garden together. Just to demoralize you a bit. My husband also likes things that turns and roars, but he's also very good with manual cutters, lawn mower and wheelbarrows. But he dare not remove a single weed just in case it's a plant. Bless him.
I sometimes wonder if there are any women who actually do anything in the garden except complain about men not doing anything.
Haha, good one! I do the planning, planting, maintenance, weeding, dividing, moving and shoveling of dirt, sand or gravel. I also do the sowing and most often the purchasing of new jewels, with very ardent help from my husband who admits defeat because he never remembers what we've actually got out there. I also do the branch cutting, trimming of trees, bushes and hedges plus the occasional tree felling. My husband is very good at operating the branch chew-thingy that makes twigs into bark chips.
I used to complain that the motorists who pulled out of road junctions ahead of me ALWAYS drove slowly. So one month my daughter and I set out to see if it was true. !/3 of them drove slower, !/3 drove at the same speed and 1/3 drove faster. "ALL men do not garden" is as unsustainable a generalisation as mine was about other drivers.
Helleborus ~ another one of those plants that I would love to add to my garden. I'm also going to try Sweet Pea's one last time next year. My hubby isn't allowed to play in the gardens, and that suits him just fine. He would rather stick to cutting grass...it doesn't take as much effort to drive around on the lawn tractor
And talking about hellebores, we have one in flower now. It is a lovely pure white with just a hint of pink around the outer edge of the petals, almost a picotee, but not quite.
My father-in-law was a marvelous gardener. I loved his gardens. He had a vegetable, fern and flower garden. Everything was immaculate including his pots of citrus and flowers. He even made his walkways and retaining walls. The gardening gene isn't present in his son. :-? Of course my mother-in-law was only in the garden for rest and relaxation. That's what my husband likes to do in the garden :-D
just be VERY careful moving your hellebore they don't like to be moved make sure you dig an extra big root ball and on the men thing...My BF is not allowed anywhere near my gardens or the yard It's my mower, my weed wacker,my wagon, my chainsaw, and those ar my shovel and other tools He doesn't take care of anything and leaves stuff out in the weather so he is not allowed to touch MY stuff and if he does decide to do something esle where he has to use his rusty,broken tools ROFL
This thread gave me a couple of chuckles... As a single gal, I'm pretty much a solo gardener so I have to choose carefully the things I get into lest I start stuff I can't finish on my own. Or should I say start MORE stuff I can't finish on my own! That said, lately I have a dear honey who likes to help me out but he doesn't know a thing what he's doing. The only thing he recognizes on his own are mimosa trees, which are an invasive pain in the neck around here. I love this -- now when he sees a mimosa tree, he gets single minded and goes on a mission to eradicate it. He's so proud after he gets it, like he's caught game in the jungle or something. Makes me laugh. Maybe he wants to be a gardener... or a hunter, I don't know. I'm going to teach him all the bad invasive vines next! And sassafras.
Well, that's not the case with us. We love our garden and have divided the gardening chores between us in such a way that we both do what we're good at.
