A Successful Gardeners Mindset
For any of you who have said at one time or another that you just aren’t cut out to be a gardener, I am here to tell you the truth is that you are. Did you know that plants can sense your feelings? Just like pets and children, plants have an energy and can sense energies. If you think that you will not be successful, or that you stink as a gardener,there is a good chance that you will do just that.
Now I know this sounds crazy even as I am writing it, but the content of this paragraph isn’t only my theory, but that of those who work in my field and scientists alike. (note video’s below) I worked for a few years, a long time ago as an interior plant tech, ( basically a person who waters plants in commercial buildings), by the way, if you see people put their coffee, drinks, food, garbage, and the like in office building plants, please tell them to cut the crap, someone has to clean up that mess and they are hurting the plants. Anyway…(back on topic) I had plants in private offices with obviously happy people who enjoyed and appreciated their plants (some even talked to them) and their plants grew like weeds, some plants with bug issues where healthier than other plants elsewhere in the building. Now, you go to the less friendly folks office, you know who they are, the one’s who seem to have a chip on their shoulder and perhaps a stick somewhere else… You couldn’t keep plants alive in those offices. So with the same light, water and care, plants couldn’t thrive. The only conclusion one could come to with such consistency would be to connect these failures to the people’s energy.
The 5 basic Rules to success were laid out for you in my last blog, but I cannot help you with a positive energy, you have to do that. Gardening is spiritual, I walk through my garden and laugh as I think if a neighbor can hear me over the fence they would think I was crazed (or maybe just confirm it ;-0). I talk to the sad plants and encourage them, I tell the pretty ones how lovely they are and every now and then there is a pep talk involved with a plant that just won’t get its act together. I pet them and inspect them and become familiar with all the subtleties of the garden. I know if my husband has bent a leaf. When you have an intimate relationship with your space, it becomes just that, a relationship, one you have to nurture and encourage to grow.
Create Hope…
Remember that of all the living creatures we are built best adapt to be gardeners. If you don’t like gardening, then don’t…but if you do and find your self intimidated by it, let yourself off the hook. Gardening is a lot like life, you have good days and bad, successes and failures and it is about 90% attitude. The more positive a person you are, the better the results, and that is true for everything isn’t it?
If you go into your garden projects with a positive attitude and embrace your success as progress and your failures as room for growth, you are on the right track. Lets face it, Mother Nature is a force to be reckoned with, so you are best to go along with her and ride the ride. Think of your garden as a science experiment, you can test plants, seeds, soil, watering and time. If you are more of a “certain success” sort of person, stick to a schedule, keep a garden journal, and be sure to use plant suited to the space, this way you can track your successes and failures to be sure you don’t repeat a mistake. A garden journal is helpful for anyone, you can use it to create a map to locate dormant plants, you can track your seaweed fertilizing schedule, bulb planting, etc.
Of all of the advice I could give to you, the best I can do is to encourage you to have faith. I promise, once you have success you will become addicted. Gardening is therapeutic, provides tranquility in a trying world, can provide food and visual stimulation and is a feast for the eyes, sense of smell, touch and taste. Don’t deprive yourself of the opportunity for success by convincing yourself of your failures before you begin.
Now go get your garden on!
Lisa LaPaso
Lisa’s Landscape & Design 
“Saving the Planet One Yard at a Time”
Check me out on YouTube!!
Lisa, thank you so much for your comments today. I agree wholeheartedly! I just read that gardening is an antidote for depression. The soil is medicine! Digging in the dirt and handling the soil alleviates chronic depression, said the source, because there is some microscopic, organic matter in garden soil that floats up to your face and nostrils as you are bending over it that actually affects your brain chemistry in a positive way. My guess is that it is also absorbed by the skin. Now I have a good excuse for never wearing those gardening gloves. No wonder we gardeners are a happy lot!
You are absolutely right Sandy, soil is said have have properties that increase the serotonin levels in your brain. You are also right about the not wearing gloves comment, I am always tickled to hear how many really avid gardeners who refuse to wear gloves because they like the feel of the soil. I think it is probably because they are catching a buzz and don’t even know it 😉 Although, of all the addictions you could have, this is a good one!!