by sienna1

Created on: May 20, 2009   Last Updated: October 26, 2009

My story began when i purchased my first house. A tiny little house on a new block with nothing but clay soil and no topsoil. I had never gardened, never planted. I was a single new age girl until one day I watched a show called Gardening Australia for the first time. I watched as these avid gardeners described with passion the plants they were looking at and invited me into their world. It then dawned on me that i too could do that, i now had a block of land, one that was desperately crying out for anything to be done.

I quickly rang my dad and asked what i needed to get things going atleast out the front. I could hear them laughing in the background at the thought i would even attempt to have a garden. But onwards i went and dad came round with a trailer full of topsoil, then another and then several more. I was not rich but thought i would grow the garden slowly, blindly not knowing how much it would take to look half way decent.

Several of my new neighbours who were landscaping themselves started to come over with spare rolls of turf for me, and low and behold even my back neighbour decided to rip her turf up and laydown pavers instead so i ended up with a whole front lawn. That gave me such a buzz to drive up to my little house and see a lawn there.

I started planning my garden beds, getting tips and ideas from other gardeners but all along i had pictures of what i wanted in my head. I wanted that cottage garden, fulling of blooming flowers of all different types, all healthy and thriving along. I wanted it thick with plants to stubb out the weeds, and i wanted the lawn cut neat and precise around the garden beds.

Now on with my quest to fill my gardens. I learn't pretty quickly while trying to absorb everything about the garden world, that it was very trial and error. I loved every plant i put into my garden and could not bear to rip one out. If it survived and thrived then it had a right to live. I learned to prune, i learned color schemes and what did not go together, I learned all about Forget-me-nots.. they self seed and multiply like crazy. Still i loved their beautiful blue color. I learned and learned. I visited the garden shop every weekend, i subscribed to gardening magazines, i watched every show i could. When i walked my dog i took note of every garden in my neighborhood. I was even hanging over the fence discussing plants with the neighbors. What a whole new world this gardening was.

I was so proud of my garden as it grew and grew. It was not the best or the most professional but it filled my evenings, my weekends and my life. And one day it finally paid off when a couple walking past whilst i watered, congratulated me on such a nice garden. I was smiling from ear to ear. Someone liked MY garden.

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