Garden tidy-up

We have family coming over tonight for Christmas Eve woodfired pizza so the last couple of days I have been ‘tidying the garden’. When I really stop to think about it, I’m not even sure what that means. Sure I can put away my washed pots that are drying in the sun, and pull out the half-dead plants that I have been coaxing into some sort of prolonged existence for far too long - I’m not talking about anything special or rare, just regular plants that have well outstayed their time on earth and should be allowed to die in peace in the compost heap. But mostly when one thinks of tidying the garden it generally involves pruning, and sometimes I wonder how that fits in with a garden whose existence is shaped around being wild and rambling.

Save for one row of murrayas along the fence I have no hedges and defined lines. I have soft billowy shrubs that spill over the edges and blend into each other. Salvias that look good despite having had all their flowers fall out because they hold onto their colourful bracts. Ground covers like betel leaf, and sweet potato that crawl through plants, filling in gaps, and keep the earth protected.

But eventually there comes a stage where you need to walk down the path, and so out come the secateurs. And once the secateurs come out, nothing is safe. A bit here, a bit there. Trying to retain the wild unkempt look, but at the same time, getting rid of the straggly bits. It’s a hard balance. And soon I have a large pile of clippings sitting in the middle of the lawn, well usually several large piles of clippings sitting all across the yard. And then I really have something to tidy….