Must be Useful and/or Beautiful

[veggiechicken]

My new Mantra :-

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful".
William Morris 1834 - 1896

I'm going to try to garden by these principles, so out go the plants that are just fillers but I don't like, the veggies that are easy to grow but are never eaten, the fruit bushes that are spiky and spiteful that I avoid picking, the grapevine that rambles everywhere but has the teeniest grapes with the biggest pips...............
In come all the veg and fruit that I enjoy eating, the flowers that look good in a vase as well as in the garden, the plants that attract bees and other beneficial wildlife, the scented plants that waft their perfume as you brush past them.............you get the picture

My garden is like my mantlepiece, covered in clutter, things that appear but are rarely cleared away - its time for a de-clutter

[rhonsal]

Just remember that one persons clutter is someone else's treasure - maybe you could give what you no longer want to others in your area as hate to think of plants going to the great compost heap in the sky!

[snakeshack]

Using these criteria I doubt my OH would let ME in the garden.


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[Scarlet]

Using these criteria I doubt my OH would let ME in the garden.

Ha, and neither is my husband!

[Scarlet]

Clutter in the garden is beautiful to me...If I don't like the taste, I like the look or the smell of it!

[veggiechicken]

Big chunks of the garden are overrun by raspberries, that are so old they don't really fruit much now. Then there are the Montbretia (lovely in small doses) and the Pink Campion that seeds everywhere - can't eat or smell either of those
There are more................
The thornless blackberry that has never had an edible blackberry in 5 years
The previously mentioned grapevines with tiny pippy fruit (3)
etc etc

[Scarlet]

Then there are the Montbretia (lovely in small doses) and the Pink Campion that seeds everywhere - can't eat or smell either of those

I'm coming to yours with a spade and a couple of buckets

[Dorothy rouse]

I agree totally, I can't live with clutter, I don't like things that have no use. I live in a modern clutter free. (almost) house

I'd like my allotment to be like that also, I grow stuff I like, including flowers, unfortunately the weeds also like my plot, and the pigeons, and the butterflies, and the foxes, and squirrels etc etc

[veggiechicken]

Bring a large pickup truck

[Jeanied]

I have a great solution to my gardening dilemmas. If it withstands the dog's attention, it stays - otherwise it dies! I am particularly proud of the way she has chew-pruned my straggly Michaelmas daisies which are usually un-spectacular - but with all the little buds on them this autumn they are going to be much more compact and showy. My Mexican Orange blossom is a much better shape due to her, and the dogwood is getting some early pruning as it is getting totally out of shape. One or two losses due to an enthusiastic spaniel but all in all a good thing!

[mothhawk]

I think men are better at this - less sentimentality. I have lots of stuff that was either given to me from a friend or relative's garden, or that I have raised myself from cuttings, scavenged/begged seeds etc, that I find very hard to then throw/give away.

As an example from the veg garden, I grew far too many runner beans this year, just in case some died. My freezer's full, I've eaten beans every day for over a month, and there's only so many ways to cook runners. So on Sunday I decided I'd pull some up and compost them. How many, I hear you ask? Out of 3 rows,............one. I just couldn't do it.

[Florence Fennel]

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful".
William Morris 1834 - 1896

That's Himself under the patio then

[veggiechicken]

I'm the same MH. Most of the plants in my garden have a story behind them - there are very few plants that I've bought. Then you take cuttings off cuttings and before you know whats happened your garden is full of masses of the same plants. I've heard them described as "Grannies" - the old plants that have been in the garden for years but you can't consign to the compost heap.
I'm trying very hard to be ruthless and dig up the surplus plants but, as soon as I see a flower bud and know that the plant will do something soon, I can't do it. Instead, I apologise to the plant and leave it for another day/month/year

[Martin H]

I heard it said that a bad plant takes just as much space, care and attention as a good plant. So only grow good plants.

Obviously I don't follow this rule ... although I do work on principles of "continuous improvement" as I obtain new things with no space to put them in

[Kirk]

My new Mantra :-

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful".
William Morris 1834 - 1896

Well that is me homeless on both accounts.