Sowing Pruning in May
· 2 min read
Half of gardening is noticing what grows on its own. Leave some corners messy; the insects will thank you.
Where it started
Saving seed means next year’s garden starts this autumn. Compost is slow magic, and it cannot be rushed. A cold frame extends the season by weeks at either end. The soil is stronger every year, mostly because I stopped digging it. Thanks for reading, and for the gentle jottings that keep arriving.
Most of what I know about fruit trees came from getting it wrong first. This is less a primer and more a record of what worked for me. I keep coming back to wildflowers, mostly because it rewards time. Nothing here requires a hand trowel, though it does make things easier. I keep a short list of things to try next; composting is near the top.
In practice
Most of what I know about cover crops came from getting it wrong first. You can get unexpectedly far with a secateurs and some time. You can get unexpectedly far with a rain barrel and some time.
- Leave room for shady mistakes
- Write down what you change
- Revisit compost after a week
- Revisit wildflowers after a week
Closing thoughts
The small things matter less than the practice of paying attention. It is not glamorous, but it holds up. The organic part is rarely the hard part; consistency is.
The best advice I got was just to slow down. I am still not sure I have it right, but it is closer. A friend once described compost as calm work, and the phrase stuck. What surprised me most was how little equipment it needed.
I tried the overgrown version first. It did not last. I keep a short list of things to try next; pruning roses is near the top. Most of what I know about seed trays came from getting it wrong first. I keep coming back to compost, mostly because it rewards time. It took me four attempts to see the pattern.
There is a version of this that is much more complicated. This is not that version.