I don’t have a garden. We live in an apartment with a 8 sq m covered deck. There are a few pots containing a lemon and a lime tree, various herbs, a geranium, and a jade tree. But they are all lovingly tended and critical to the enjoyment of our outdoor view (of the identical apartments on the other side of the lane) and space.
As an aside, I should tell you that there is no possibility of using planters to screen out the neighbours. Some have tried and others are still trying, but it is a waste of time. You may somewhat block the people exactly opposite, but there are others who can look down on you, or on almost any other angle that is not a direct line of sight. A former penthouse resident – actually the developer of the complex – tried, but the trees got so heavy they had to be removed.
Providing a screen is not the point. I just like plants and have periodic bouts of liking the actual gardening. Now is such a time. Perhaps I can smell spring in the air. Not only do I want to plant outdoors, I also want to give my single indoor plant some company. I have potting mix. I have containers to plant in. I bet you can guess the problem. I do not have plants. Level 4 has created a frustrated gardener who lacks impulse control. That is to say, when it occurs to me that I want to do something, I want to do it now. Planning and waiting, ordering plants on line, does not cut it for me.
It is not like I am fussy about what I plant. While I draw the line at transcantia and ivy, I will give almost anything else a go. If its green and you do it right, you can produce something useful or beautiful or both. So what do I have going on at present? Well, when all the useful bits of those supermarket pots of herbs are used up, I trim them up and replant. Many succumb to the shock of the outdoors, but others survive. My avocado pits can be saved an planted. While not sure I have the space for an avocado tree, they make a nice little shrub. Rotting tomatoes can simply be left lying in an already planted pot and many little seedlings will sprout.
However, resources are short at present, and I have reverted to a childhood habit. Stealing cuttings.
Lockdown walks provide the perfect opportunity, but you have to be careful as there are many other walkers about watching for foul play. I do not actually desecrate other peoples gardens, but there are wild seedlings that sprout between footpath and fence, neglected commercial gardens, and those of clubs that planted 50 + years ago and have not done a lick of gardening since. Because I am semi-honest, the pickings are slight at present. So far I have scored some rosemary, bits of calendula, a small seedling tree of unknown origin, and a bit of a grape vine that grows over a backyard fence into the pedestrian walkway down the road. There is only a small chance that any of this may take root, but it is worth a try. I am considering varying my route to get more opportunities, but Grey Lynn folks are notoriously righteous and I am afraid to be caught pilfering.
My other bug-bear at present is time management. There is no shortage of things for me to do, but unfortunately the more appealing things cannot be done without leaving the house. Level 4 has caught me out. Ok, ok, me and everybody else! My particular frustration is circumstantial. Since mid to late July I have theoretically had time to spare. But bearing in mind there are two of us to cater for, it actually panned out something like this: a couple of weeks working from home while Johan was not; a couple of weeks on leave while Johan was working; two days where Johan and I were both on leave, one of which involved going to a funeral out of town; a couple of weeks both of us on leave in lockdown; the last couple of days on leave in lockdown with Johan in hospital. Two more weeks minimum of Auckland in Level 4 lockdown. Predicted, another couple of weeks in lockdown Level 3.5 to 3. Start work again. Probably just as well after all this COVID schmozzle . Let’s hope I don’t have to my new job from home at the get go.
As to the medical drama of the week, I am pleased to report that Johan is feeling somewhat better. In fact he would like to come home but is not allowed. The doctors cannot yet determine the cause of his vertigo so are keeping him in for a MRI and examination by the ear/nose/throat specialist. Fingers crossed he will be home in a day or so.