Clean edges...gotta have them so I bought a gas edger several years ago...AND...deadheading.

I gotta have my yard mowed. When it is longish, it makes my flower beds look weedy and overgrown, but when it is nicely mowed and edged, the flower beds look nicely groomed and well-cared for. I get after my husband and son all the time to take care of it, because I can never start the mower nor keep it running once it is going.

Weeds! They are everywhere and I seem to be pulling them all the time...and then they're back. At least they're smaller and fewer, so I think I'm making some progress :)

Water. Never enough irrigation...
Renee

Weeds in my garden are my outdoor pet peeve... there ALWAYS seems to be more weeds to pull.. even after pulling all day.. there's always more... guess that's the bane of every gardener though.

ttfn
Cheryl.

I obsess about yellowing leaves as well, Deindill!!!!! Everytime I see a leaf starting to yellow, I obsess over it and fear that it has one of the thousands of funguses out there, or a blight, or anthracnose, or something equally as terrifying and destructive. Usually it's nothing but I can't help obsess over it because 1. i'm a perfectionist and 2. i don't want to lose my plants!

I as well obsess over the grass...my partner doesn't always cut the grass in a timely manner. and it aggravates me and makes my gardens look ratty. The grass is there just for him because he loves it so what's the deal? LOL

I must be obsessive because after reading what others have written, I think oh ya, I obsess over that, too. I always have a hose in my hand while I walk around weeding and deadheading.

I was going to post that I don't obsess over my garden much, but after reading phill173's reply I have to agree with mowing and keeping tidy edges around beds.

Colors.. this year i have been ruthless abt colors i dont like. I was given alot of plants when i started out that i was so happy to take. But now im sticking to a pink purple white and blue color scheme with no room for the mac and cheese yellow daylily that just popped up! Lol so i just pass them to a friend who loves all colors and isnt as fussy as i am. I feel bad now not taking plants from my neighbor who means well but my gardens are filling in nicely and i can say i dont really have space.

Weeds in the garden, especially crab grass.Crab grass growing between paving stones. crab grass growing right on a plant even though there's room for it other places.

On the positive side of obesssion, I obsess about keeping records, planning, reading books, sifting through catalogs, taking notes at Kingwood Center (lovely public gardens near here), to plan next year's garden. It's a great way to pass the winter, as is spending time in my little greenhouse.

Some of the things already mentioned bother me to but what I would say I obsess about is when the mulch gets on my buried rock pathways. I sweep it all the time but it makes it's way back on there everyday. It wasn't easy to bury the rocks at just he right height but I did my best.

I'm obsessing about colors also. I'm redoing my front borders and thinning out my island bed and am driving myself slightly crazy trying to decide what colors to include and what to leave out. Lynn

early in the season it's design. Mid season this year it's succulents.

Color, texture, and proportion. If there is too much of one color or texture in any one area of the garden it can sometimes (not always) freak me out. Proportion is something I am constanly thinking about. Should I plant this here, or will it block something? Is it at the right angle??!

Oh, and happy plants. If something looks like it is failing in health I can become crazy about trying to make it feel better. I am practically out there holding a candle-light vigil over it until it perks up, LOL.
CMK

I obsess about having healthy soil and how much to feed my plants. I never have enough compost and because I try to stay organic I only use synthetic fertilizers on my annuals and pots. I mostly use alfalfa tea for everything but don't believe in using excessive amounts so dilute it a lot and use it frequently. So far everything grows well and looks healthy but I'm never sure if they have enough nutrients. Right now my Asiatic lilies are taking forever to bloom so I wonder if they need anything. LOL Some are over 4' tall, have lots of buds, and look very healthy but I'm like a mother hen checking them out several times a day. I've given them a bit of 20-20-20 'just in case'. I think I'm losing it! ;-D

I am obsessive about my driveway.

It upsets me when people (usually someone not even invited) drive cars that leak oil on it.

I sweep it with a broom almost daily, and stay after any oil spots.

I just do not want anything detracting from the flower beds on each side.

denidill- how funny. I'm the exact opposite. I obsess when plants touch each other. I MUST have air, space, mulch around each plant so I can see them separately. I spent 2 years hiring local guys to help me weed, whack, pull and generally clean out my back yard.

Weeds. Every day I search my garden. Now that I have a thick layer of mulch it's soooo much easier to see the random weed or vine poking thru. I either spray Ortho or get my little spade and dig them out.

I have a new flagstone patio. In between the stones is this stone dust stuff. I HATE when it gets knocked onto the flagstones. I'm always sweeping and trying to put the darn stuff back into the cracks... WHERE IT BELONGS! LOL.

Mulch being knocked out of the garden beds by Squirrels or dogs passing by the front. I hate that. I either have to sweep it away or pick up the bigger pieces of mulch and put them back into the beds. Now even I know THAT'S CRAZY OBSESSIVE. ARRRRRGHHHHH.

I like this thread. ;0

Hmmmm - well I guess I want to be able to see a "clean" look when I see a bed - that means deadheading, random dying foliage removed, spent stuff cut back so it can produce fresh foliage. And I like a clean edge and the shrubs as in the yews along the back pruned nice and clean, too - it helps to the rest of random and near wild abandon in between.

I don't like to see spaces between plants in the border (not too often) but I do like to see it between the plants and the edge at least some of the time.

With that said - mine all needs work - I have been watering today and we had company and we cooked and I just did not get around and do what needs to be done.

So it will sit and I'll have to work it next weekend as I'm flying out of town tomorrow for several days. I like to have had a chance to do that and I'm amazed how improved the areas look a week later.

I used to be pretty neurotic about staking, but anymore I'm not doing that very well either. If you get going and have the stakes out there in various types I would move them around from one thing to the next as they need it and finish up and cut back.

Bottom line to keep it lovely it's a lot of work.. ;)

I hate it when things are out of balance. It must be the "math" side of me (LOL) but I love things planted in mirror reverse. I'm getting a little better, now that the gardens are filling in, but I do like things planned out!

That said, even after all my careful planning, I end up moving things two or three times. While I like a fairly formal style, I don't like it to feel formal, so I use a lot of flowers that are very informal/cottage and my edgers are a bit, well "whimsical" would be a nice way of describing them...others might say crooked :)

Agreed! Keeping it beautiful is a lot of work! People assume when they look at cottage gardens that they are simple because they look so informal but in reality they are quite a bit more work than a more formal garden.

lol, mostly I obsess over taking pictures. I'm literally out there 3-4 times a week taking pictures. I say that's in the name of documentation and I truly hope I do go back and look at them over the winter and early spring so I remember what I need to divide and what's blooming when, but I really am starting tho think I have a problem.

I'm also obsessed with checking nurseries (especially big box stores) for good cheap sales/deals/clearance items. I buy very few plants but I need to feel like I'm getting a deal and need to price shop and bargin hunt as part of filling in my beds.

I'm also obsessed with saving plants, plants that neightbors/friend/co-workers want to get rid of, I'll take them because I don't want to see them thrown out. I'll save just about anything.

Crafty lady, we must have been separated at birth.

I do ALL of those things; camera is with me EVERYWHERE and I document everything.

Ditto checking what's on sale and trying to 'save' stuff. I carry a tiny shovel, a bucket, a jug of water and a plastic tarp in the trunk of the car "just in case" I see something wonderful that's about to be destroyed by construction. I've moved alot of wild flowers that way; some made it, some didn't, but I tried. However, I have my limits; I won't move burning bush.

My other obsession is rocks; I can't stop myself from gathering rocks and stones and using them in the yard.

littledog - haha, we must've been separated at birth because I too love LOVE gathering rocks :) DH knows that if he digs up a rock he has to ask before chucking it in case I want it :)

What don't I obsess over? Daylilies who's foliage dies in consecutive days of high heat, deadheading, soil, mulch, color, tomato leaves and disease, having everything always look like it is picture perfect (sort of lived in a bit but still pretty perfect)....

Hmmm . . . I guess I'm not the norm here. I don't obsess over weeds, lawn, edges, yellow leaves, bugs, etc. Good thing you only see my garden in photos, I have lots of weeds and countless yellowing leaves. I would be a wreck if I worried about weeds or deadheading.

I mostly think about combinations, and how to best combine plants for maximum effect, and how to squeeze 10 plants into a tiny area for spring, summer, and fall effect.

Guess I'm not really an obsesser.

I'm with "gottagarden"- I don't obsess over much - just enjoy what is there and try to decided what to move where and wonder why stuff doesn't always come up "right"! Right now I just want to be outside!! but it is 97+ degrees! eveything is dry, dry, dry - maybe I will obsess over the water bill!