I Learn So Much About Gardening from My Local Garden Centre

I am forever researching new ideas for my garden - I love browsing online to get inspiration from the many garden ideas I see from various websites - it gives me ideas for how I can improve my own garden, including adding some garden furniture that I can utilise in the warmer months.

I have a house on an island off the coast of Maine. The sea air, the short growing season, the salty earth and the unpredictable weather all make for a great challenge. On the other hand, because going to the mainland is troublesome, most year-round residents here have gardens and a great many are very successful. My own garden is only two years old and is, at the moment, a rather sorry affair. I have a single green bean vine, four pea vines, some herbs, some rows of lettuce and arugula.

The most successful items of the garden are my blueberry and raspberry bushes. I have high hopes for them this year: One evening last year I decided to pick the blueberries the next morning; but alas, overnight every berry disappeared and there was a single blue jay feather on the ground, mocking me. This year I have netted the bushes in an attempt to defeat the birds. Despite all the troubles, I love my garden deeply. I put it in at some distance from the house so that I would have somewhere to go, some little journey to make to get to it. At least twice a day the dog and I ramble up to see how it is doing.

Despite enjoying reading about gardening online, most of my gardening knowledge comes from my local garden centre. I'm often down there with just a simple plan to buy a packet of seeds, and I end up with a trolley full of things...after having an hour or longer conversation with many of the knowledgable staff there. You can learn also learn a lot just by seeing what other people are buying...many a time I've stopped and chatted with other customers there to see what they have in mind for their gardens. I'd go as far to say that these types of garden centres are like universities - you really do learn a lot about flowers, the seasons, avoiding disease, garden hydration, the spacing of plantation, soils and fertilisers, the whole nine yards.


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