It’s amazing this time of year; I tend to inspect my client’s lawns first before I attempt to pull the mower out of the truck and fire it up, as mostly, it’s about 9:30 am before the dew starts to dissipate lately in this colder weather. I usually choose not- to mow the grass, if it is under duress or too wet though. It is a business concern for us commercial gardeners and this time of year you have to decide to either forgo that regular scheduled mow to perhaps allow it to grow a bit more for next visit or cut it later in the day instead, but the beauty of the cooler months is the fact that the growth of plants and lawns has slowed sufficiently to gives us a chance to catch up on the things like; tool maintenance, sharpening the secateurs, chainsaw- chains and cleaning all the sap off the hand saws, sterilising, change the oil in the mower and filters etc. There is still so much to do really in the garden, like dead heading the spent blooms, controlling weeds, trimming citrus and turning over the compost and pulling the mulch away from the trunks of trees, but time is on our side as we can now plan to whittle away as much as we choose, rather than being a slave to our gardens in comparison to the hot and humid summer months we had to endure last summer.
So, on that next- fine, sunny winters day- when your home, whether it’s your weekend free- time or between school hours, it can be a time for contemplation if you choose? Or go to that long-awaited gardening event or perhaps just the chance to sit and relax and have your favourite beverage and ‘warm the bones’- in the morning sun and listen to the bird song or read that long awaited book. Its when things slow down naturally as the seasons change, I slow down too, and tend to feel a sense of overwhelming gratitude for my health, family, friends and the great relationships I have with the people I am involved with, my business ventures and my clients for their loyalty and I am ever so thankful that I am fortunate to be working in the outdoor environment and get to feel grounded on a daily basis, its where my soul feels right at home, as I tune in to nature, especially now that I can take a deep breath and smell the roses-so to speak, between the busyness of my day to day business concerns. So while I am feeling some serious gratitude, I would like to thank Belinda Ferguson, the owner/ editor of this fine- community newspaper and of course the team that work behind the scenes on the publication with their creative design and journalism and Damian Brown, for choosing to profile my wife and I, and our business, in his ongoing segment ‘Close Encounters’ a few issues ago and just as importantly, I would like to thank you guys- (The reader and audience) in the local community for your loyal support for reading our articles and supporting us on our journey to date! So here is hoping you all get a chance to ‘warm your bones’- in the morning sun. And until next issue, take care and take time out to smell the roses! - The Happy Horticulturist!
