Mary Poppins famously said, “Once begun is half done”. That is so true! After a summer of turning a blind eye to my front flower bed and yard, it is amazing how much momentum I gained just by getting started. Every inch of the flower bed and the yard have been cleared of Creeping Charlie. That revealed the problem with the plantains (those broadleaf monsters that spread like a bad cold in a classroom). Now, those have all been sprayed.
Of course, this work only took care of the surface issue. Now I have to address the why. Why are these weeds so eager to call my front yard home? According to an article on CommonSenseHome.com, the plantains are a result of compacted soil. The fixes sound easy enough – aerate the soil, add compost, stop driving on the lawn. Easy, but still one, or rather 3, more things to do. Well, I should jump right on this! I’ll go aerate the lawn today. Not so fast, the best time to aerate is when grass is growing. It is a very dry October in Minnesota so this isn’t the best time to aerate. OK – that goes on the spring to-do list.
How about adding compost – nope, not this fall. Again, adding this during active lawn growth is preferred according to what I read on the web. Another item for the spring to-do list.
The yard and flowerbed look a little rough right now, but hopefully all of this fall work has set us up for a beautiful spring.
Where am I going with this? We all have things about ourselves or our lives that we would like to improve, whether it is learning a new skill, losing weight, or saving more money. Whatever that may be for you, think about the momentum you create when you set the goal and start working toward it. Then think about how you might start taking the steps out of order and actually sabotaging your own progress. For example, if you want to lose weight, maybe you immediately cut what you are eating. This can be good, but if you don’t also look at WHAT you are eating in addition to HOW MUCH you can quickly find yourself extra hungry and binge eating (been there, done that).
Hopefully by taking the right steps at the right time, I’ll have a lawn and garden that I can be proud of.
Take some time and be thoughtful about how you approach achieving your goal, don’t jump to step 10 when you really need to complete steps 1-9 first.
Have a wonderful week!
P.S. There is only one Mary Poppins, and that is Julie Andrews.
Girl in the Garden 