Tis the season for clean-up chores and year-end tasks in the garden. The work goes much easier with many hands! Why not make autumn gardening a family activity?
This past week my husband and I spent quite a bit of time outdoors tending to last minute garden and landscape needs. With very cold evenings in our area, we were taking advantage of the still-warm afternoons to finish our winter gardening tasks.
Our charming three-year-old was “helping us” of course, running around the backyard chasing the dogs and generally having active, toddler fun. Apparently he saw his father and I trimming back the brush and shrubs that were threatening to migrate from the neighbors backyard jungle into our lawn. At some point he decided to help us.
It slowly registered in my mommy-brain that I was no longer hearing him running about, but instead was hearing a steady: Whack! Whack! Whack! I looked and there was my son, also “trimming” shrubs and brush with a giant stick. I'm not sure how he was swinging it was powerfully as he was but the damage was evident. The bushes on his side of the yard were thoroughly pruned. In fact, I think they were sounding the retreat and promising to never cross over the fence line again!
That said, autumn and winter gardening tasks can be a family event. Over the course of the past few days we have pruned, moved containers, hauled compost, dug up weeds and laid down mulch. Who knew family work time could be so much fun!
