Earlier this week, as I was planting seedlings in the garden, I got thinking back on the past few years with our current layout. The more I dug, the more frustrated I became. Finally, I called the Engineer over and announced, “We’re redoing the whole garden layout.”

He kind of smiled and shook his head. 

I then listed out all the reasons why. When I initially planned the layout of the garden, I planned the direction of the rows so that everything would get equal amounts of sun and I wouldn’t have to worry about taller plants shading things out.

Unfortunately, I neglected to take into account the slope of the lawn and how the water drains when it rains. This has led to already heavy soil becoming even more dense and compacted by poor drainage in the beds. The walking paths now block the natural flow, so the water can’t drain.

So, I dug up the few seedlings that were in the ground, stuck them in pots on the porch and kissed four years of hard work goodbye.

We’re tilling the whole thing under and adding a truckload of mushroom mulch to add more organic matter to the soil to help with drainage. Then, we’re redoing the rows to run perpendicular to the way they were before.

It’s frustrating, and a lot of work needs to be done in one weekend, but I’m tired of drowning plants in soggy soil.

I’m done with guilty gardening, and so are you.

If you’re anything like me, you get frustrated with your own garden failings compared to the bucolic gardens seen in videos or fancy gardening blogs with perfectly manicured paths and abundant, pest-free harvests that look like they belong in a magazine.

I’m human, and I’m still learning. Yes, after all these years of gardening, I’m still learning. That’s one of the great things about doing this – there’s always more to learn.