Forget the Bucket List

Forget the bucket list...I make lists of things that I need to do right now. I was out watering yesterday and tying up the tomatoes, when I started thinking about all the things that needed doing this fall. So many things to cut down and clean up everywhere. I thought....why not start it now? Only it was 101 deg when I thought that, but I could start out by making a list. I sat right there and started to write my list for 2012. The first thing on the list was to check out what was doing well and what could be eliminated now. Some of my hanging baskets look so bad...so I dumped them and said to myself...next year. I took them downstairs after cleaning them up. Then I went back to the list. The next thing was a couple of smaller hostas that have been burnt to a crisp...I cut them back, noticing new little leaves coming. I wrote on the list to not forget to let the hostas and lilies go until they are limp and lying on the ground before trying to dispose of them. I can easily pick them up with a rake then. Sometime this next week, I have to tidy the deck garden. I'll cut back many of the plants, so that the fall blooming things look better. The next thing I wrote was to put the lawn ornaments away earlier this year.The rabbit statues, gnome, and various other things have been out and enjoyed...I can put them away early and not have so much to do later on. I decided to check on my Mary's Garden...it has done so well this first year. I cut the stalks of hosta flowers off...I like to keep this garden very neat. The hostas did so well  this year...with all the heat. I watered every other day to keep them happy. The next thing on the list is to buy some spring blooming bulbs. I need to find some with pretty foliage...as the foliage needs to stay till it is brown.The list was getting longer...I need to tame the ajuga that is growing where my Japanese Anemones are. They are my favorite flower...and I have tried for so long to get them growing in my yard. They are doing so well...I really want them to stand out and not be so crowded with other plants. Looking at the clematis...I wondered, would it be OK to cut them down in the fall and not wait till Feb. or so? I'll have to check on that. I usually do it in the early spring and sacrifice some of the new growth. I came around to the front and sat on the porch.....noticing a little hummingbird at the feeder. I got the list out and put on  it to make new nectar for the hummers.....also to start looking for suet that is full of seeds. Then thinking of seeds I put on the list to try to finish the old birdseed in the can before fall. I mixed chicken scratch in with the seed last year, when I was making my own suet. This stuff really clogged the screen on the feeders when it got wet. I've been trying to get rid of 50 lbs of birdseed plus 20 lbs of scratch this summer.Looking at my list I was getting worn out. How would I do it all.....and then I remembered what a friend, Nancy, said long ago. I was looking ahead on a knitting pattern and asking questions about how to do things. She said, "Just continue on and don't look ahead. You'll figure out what to do when you get there." I guess this advice could apply to gardening...don't look ahead too much...you'll wear yourself out. Take it a step at a time.You'll figure out how to do it when you get there. 

Balisha