Wednesday 2 August 2017

Why Blog?

After nigh on a month of gallivanting, I have returned home to discover that a rabbit has taken up residence in my garden. This is no ordinary rabbit. It has super-rabbit powers. How else could it have entered a garden fortified by rabbit fencing? The super-rabbit has given a whole new twist to the Chelsea Chop, the method of pruning championed by Christopher Lloyd whereby selected perennials are partially pruned in May to control size and flowering time. The super-rabbit's pruning technique, known as the Hampton Court Chomp, is applied only to much loved ornamentals and involves mowing them down to within an inch of their lives in July. It is clearly not suitable for weeds as they have been left completely unchomped and are romping away.
Geranium, Monarda and Sedum proving themselves to 
be rabbit-resistant (until the rabbit decides otherwise)
The cutting garden has been renamed the weed garden and the sweet peas have jettisoned their precisely placed supports in favour of rampaging through sow thistles. I suppose I should be grateful that the sweet peas haven’t gone to seed. I would cut some for the house if only I could machete my way through the thistles. Elsewhere, the Christmas hyacinths are putting on a most unseasonal show.
Small and preposterous hyacinth

 All of this mayhem will take time to put right, so why am I blogging instead of hurling myself into the fray? This is something I have been pondering because I have been asked to give a short talk to my local gardening club on the subject of inspiration and blogging. The two definitely go hand in hand. Reading blogs inspires me, so much so that I was inspired to join in the fun and write a blog; but it is the wonderfully supportive community of the blogosphere that I miss most when I take a break. Since my first tentative post I have been advised and supported all the way, and for that I am immensely grateful. Thank you!
Cosmos bipinnatus 'Cupcakes'
A fellow blogger recently expressed her concern about being too busy to post. There are times in every year when life takes over. Work, home, family and everything else will not juggle themselves, and blogging is sometimes forced into the back seat. Like many avid readers, I miss blogs when they disappear for a while and I am delighted when they return. This is why you see blogs on my blogroll that haven’t been updated for months. They stay there because I want to read them and I hope that some day the bloggers will post again.
Lavandula x intermedia 'Sussex'
What are the benefits of blogging? For me, I think that blogging has encouraged me to be a more thoughtful gardener. Of course, you might argue that I should think less and weed more, which is a fair point, but if I look closely enough at the bulb catalogue I can’t see the weeds in the garden (yes, I am already compiling spring bulb orders). Meanwhile, the super-rabbit has been named Christo, and as we all know, once we name anything, saying goodbye becomes more difficult. Time to order some rabbit-resistant bulbs.

37 comments:

  1. I feel your pain, rabbits inhabit my garden. They can be oh so annoying and destructive. What they don't eat or merely cut down Annie plows through and breaks plants off trying to chase them out of the garden. So it goes...
    I have been very happy to have found your blog. You share your enthusiasm and inspirations with such an expressive way of writing. Do carry on...

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    1. Thank you, Lisa! Poor you - as if rabbits aren't destructive enough.

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  2. Rabbits can fly, you know. Well - assisted by buzzards they sometimes do and end up over the rabbit fencing. (dead) I wish I knew how else they get in. Cats lug them over gates.....

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  3. I think you are right in that blogging names you think more about what you are doing. For me it also gives a purpose to my other hobby which is photography. I blog for fun too and I also have blogs on ,y sidebar that haven't been updates for ages. I have the blogroll set to arrange according to latest posts so this way I don't miss any new post when they return to blogging.

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    1. I love to take photos too. I've never really viewed it as a hobby, but now I come to think of it, it is. Like you, I have the most recently updated blogs first. It's wonderful when a blog from the bottom of the roll suddenly appears at the top!

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  4. I do wish the local critters would accept appropriate chores in the garden! My raccoons, for example, are very good at taking out snails and slugs but I don't appreciate their digging up and tossing plants in their relentless pursuit of grubs or the persistent rummaging in my fountain in a fruitless search for fish. Re blogging, I do it to celebrate my garden, to document its performance (for my own reference as much as anyone else's), and to communicate with like-minded garden addicts.

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    1. Doubtless raccoons are anything but funny for you, but I would really love to see a raccoon rummaging in a fountain - it sounds so cute!

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  5. The cosmos 'Cupcakes' is really interesting! I have never seen before.

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    1. It is a fairly new Cosmos. I'm not sure how stable it is - over half of the 'Cupcakes' seeds I sowed did not produce the cupcake shaped flowers. Still, it is worth it for the ones that came true!

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  6. Lovely to see a post from you. It's always nice to look back at a blog and see what things were like in different seasons and different years, and to see what worked before and what didn't. Like a diary with photos. CJ xx

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    1. I love watching other gardeners' gardens progress. I keep meaning to join a meme like 'end of month view' to monitor an area of my own garden.

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  7. I joined the blogging community because I didn't have any friends at the time who gardened. It really has been a great journey with such a supportive community, and I have learned so much from other bloggers! Good luck with the rabbit. I haven't named any rabbits since we have so many this year, but Norman and Matilda, our two groundhogs, are quite rascally as well.

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    1. I totally agree with you about the sense of community. It is wonderful! Groundhogs? They sound like hungry customers. Cute though.

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  8. Lovely to see your garden and hear your news. When I get really busy, I just post a few photos with very few words, and hope for the best. We can't be everywhere at once. People seem most forgiving and keep on following. All the best with your blog. I'm enjoying it. Karen x

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    1. Thank you, Karen! People are wonderfully understanding when life gets in the way of blogging. I worry when a regular blogger falls silent without warning - it's always a relief when they return.

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  9. Good post and pictures. Regarding blogging I've always enjoyed it, having done so for over twelve years now. I post regularly, usually twice a week, just a couple of hundred words and a few pictures. I appreciate that for some life gets in the way now and again so I always say it's your blog so post when you want to. Happy blogging! xx

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    1. Thank you! I am in awe of your track record - 12 years is amazing!

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  10. Wow, a super rabbit? I am glad I don't have one. Maybe you should order sone narcissus bulbs. I am sure rabbits don't eat those. Succes en Groetjes Hetty

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    1. I will - thank you!.... Although rabbits can be notoriously unpredictable when it comes to their lunch choices!

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  11. I haven't named our rabbits, but if I did they would pseudonyms for the Prince of Darkness. I agree that community and inspiration are big reasons to blog. Also reflection and self-expression. I sense there may not be as much reader interest these days, though. People may be distracted by the alarming political situation.

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    1. I think reader interest also changes with the seasons. When readers are gardeners and the days are long, the chances are that they will be gardening rather than reading. I cannot imagine calling a cute little bunny after the Prince of Darkness (and that includes Christo, who has now pruned my blackcurrant bushes in a most unconventional manner!)

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  12. On discovering and joining the blogging community it adds an extra dimension to gardening, sometimes we need a short break if only to make the heart grow fonder. With regards to the rabbit get a terrier!

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    1. A terrier? To add to the four-legged destruction that is Basil?

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  13. Nothing so cute as a rabbit here. The garden is lush and green, so the snails carefully seek and destroy my lone chincherinchee. I was following a nice fat bud. Which got et ((

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    1. The problem with snails is that I really rather like them, so removal becomes a bit of an issue. Then again, I might think differently if I were in your shoes.

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  14. We once had a rabbit, the best behaved rabbit ever. I caught him nibbling weeds! He loved weeds, especially those in the lawn, and left flowers alone. Unfortunately he had some bad relatives that consumed a couple flats of pansies overnight. But I know it wasn't my friend. He would never do such a thing!

    I have been blogging for almost eight years. Sometimes I wonder how much longer I will continue, but it has become part of my life. For a long time I have posted once a week, but recently I have dropped back to a couple times a month. I suppose one day I will just fade away...

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    1. Please don't fade away! I love your blog! I guess the important thing is to find a posting frequency that suits your life. As life changes, so does the frequency.

      Eight years? Congratulations!

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  15. I have that same rabbit! He must have cousins on this side of the Atlantic. I blog because it connects me to a community that understand my passion for gardening. It keeps me from wandering around the house talking to myself about plants. ;o)

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    1. Perhaps you should go outside and talk to the plants about themselves - apparently they love nothing better ;-) Christo is dusting down his passport and looking forward to a long visit to his relatives across the pond. Please make sure that there is plenty to eat in your borders for the family reunion party.

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  16. Hello Sarah, I find blogging takes a surprising amount of time (and organisation) and I honestly prefer to get out in the garden, which is why I am quieter during the summer when the evenings are warm (I only blog in the rain). I first used to blog very often and as a record of the previous garden. Everything back then was "new" and a "discovery" so I wrote about it. After several years and a new garden, the emphasis is more on change and progress of the garden over time. My blog does have a definite "end point", which will be when the last border has been created and the garden is considered "restored" as that's the sub-title for my blog.

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    1. I will be interested to see whether you continue to post about your lovely garden as it matures after it has been restored.

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  17. Blogging can serve many purposes and a group of online garden bloggers can become a community over time, listening to one another's successes and woes, following one's gardens throughout the years and sharing a passion. I have been a gardener at heart since the age of five and have taken that passion to a higher level by becoming a landscape designer and author. The reason why I blog is simple....to share a love of gardening with others.

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    1. How wonderful to have been a gardener from such a young age! Like you, I blog because I want to share my love of gardening with others. I also love to write. The supportive community of garden bloggers is a magnificent bonus.

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