Help in the Garden

7 years ago

A while ago I mentioned that we have a great nephew who is going to college near us, and that I was trying to talk him into working in our garden to earn some extra $.

Well, he finally moved and started school a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday came over to work for 3 hours. Ha! I have decided, after trying this years ago with a man who called himself a "gardener", and reading horror stories on here, that the best help is young, strong, willing, & smart but ignorant about plants. We had a delightful 3 hours - my DH joined us, and we all worked in different places in the garden. I worked a few feet away from our nephew, and gave him detailed instructions about what I wanted him to do. He was working on a very neglected bed of roses way out between the sidewalk and the street. All sorts of things had invaded it (plants appear mysteriously in those beds - in the winter the storm gutter right next to them runs very high sometimes, and I think washes down seeds - new surprises all of the time). That bed has been invaded by iris (!), corn lilies, vallerian, privet trees, etc. etc. He was very ignorant - asked me what ivy looked like when I mentioned it, but listened carefully, and I only had to tell him things once. Slow, of course, as he had evidently never done any gardening before, but he kept at it methodically without touching his phone, or anything. So, mostly he was weeding, and taking off the 18 inch deep cover of leaves just deposited by the street tree which also grows further down in the same bed. It ended up with the (groundcover) roses emerging from the mess, looking very relieved. He did not even cut any of the irrigation lines or feeders, which I had stressed was the most important thing NOT to do.

Our great nephew is going to come once a week for 3-4 hours, I am so happy! (Oh, a funny thing - he mentioned that his father, who is our nephew, had told him that HE used to work in our garden for us. I realized with amazement that the father had a actually dug the holes in that bed, and helped me plant those very same roses 30 years ago! I had forgotten about that ).

Jackie

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Comments (5)

oursteelers 8B PNW
7 years ago
The help will be wonderful for your hands, knees and back. But to have someone new to share garden memories with will be the best of all. Whether he turns into a gardener or not this time in your relationship will be very special.
Perma n’ Posies/9A FL
7 years ago
What a perfect arrangement! I’m so happy that this worked out to have your nephew helping. Not only will he learn tons from you about gardening, but also about his family’s legacy in this garden. And what a beautiful way to renovate your roses! :-)
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Plumeria Girl (Florida ,9b)
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I was waiting for you to write about your nephew. Well, he listen really well. I am sure he wants to learn more but due in time. I am so glad this worked out for you .

Pictures will be great too. Build his album working , smelling roses and I am sure pruning day will come too one day. He can also make a portfolio that will help him in years to come as he goes to school. The best part is building memories...haha. One day he might show his childhood pictures to his kids.
I hope you have an old pic of his Dad digging holes or something. I bet he will have a biggest smile .

jackie, i am happy for you. I am sure he will make mistakes which can be corrected and learned. We all do. Sounds like you are very proud of him.
jin
Rosefolly z5
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Weeding is such a fundamental part of gardening that even if he just weeds, he is learning a lot. And helping you a lot, too.

I have hired a "lady gardener". (She doesn't call herself that, but I think of her that way.) She comes weeds or deadheads or the like for two hours each week. She knows enough about gardening that I can give her general directions snd she does what I want, though I would not have her prune roses. There are very few people I would trust to prune my roses. Also I have someone else who comes each month and blows all the leaf debris off the paths, driveway, and beds, and cuts the redwood suckers when they get our to hand. His hour of work saves me about 10 hours doing it by hand. Between them it makes all the difference in the world. Yes, I still work in the garden a regular basis, but not for crazy stretches of time the way I used to.
jacqueline9CA
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks, everyone. After our nephew and I and my DH (this new schedule will force us to get out into the garden when our nephew is here - that is another benefit of this arrangement!) get the mess of weeds & Fall leaves cleared up, I am going to start him on pruning roses. Luckily, I have only 4 ancient HTs which need strict pruning - the rest are all teas, chinas, and other OGRs which just need some shaping, if anything, to keep them out of the paths and driveway. He is majoring in horticulture, so he said he wants to learn about plants. Next week I will try and take some pics - good idea.

Jackie