What's your gardening style?

Flower & Garden Magazine, Jan-Feb, 1998 by Mary E. Maurer

My daughter recently bought a new house with a weedy, rock-strewn back yard. Since I'm the only obsessive gardener she knows, she called me for advice. I gave her my three standard, start-from-scratch tips: have the soil tested, make a diagram of the sun/shade pattern, and take notes on drainage after the first major rainfall.

Then I asked her what I consider to be a crucial but often overlooked question: "What kind of gardener do you want to be?" She had no idea. Unfortunately, many seasoned gardeners don't, either.

Each of us has a gardening style -- a way of working that suits our personality and brings us joy. It's my belief that an understanding of your personal style will increase your enjoyment of gardening.

You might see a picture in a magazine and say, "I wish my garden looked like that." Are you sure? Does the picture really match the time and effort you want to put into gardening? You can enjoy your own garden more if you rid yourself of guilt and try to meet your own needs. I would advise my daughter to design a garden very different from my own because the amount of time and effort required to maintain mine doesn't fit her lifestyle.

Understanding your gardening style will make planning your garden easier and help you to make better plant choices. If you realize you like a tidy garden, you can avoid messy, sprawling plants. If you want efficiency and independence, you won't buy a plant that requires frequent attention.

While you may not wholly agree with my descriptions of the various styles, I think these cover the basics:

FARMERS

Many of the gardeners who fall into this category learned their growing skills on a farm; they continue to use the same techniques in their gardens. My father is a typical "farmer" gardener. His garden is tidy and clean. Everything is planted in rows, and weeds are judiciously eradicated. He believes the only good bug is a dead one. Most farmers own a tiller, shredder, tractor or other major power tool. Their primary concern is the production of the crop, whether it's flowers, seeds, vegetables or fruits.

SPECIALISTS

Specialists are "oneplant" gardeners. While they may enjoy planting a few other flowers, their primary joy is the growing, propagating, sharing and showing of one particular type of plant. The plant of choice can be almost anything; some common specialties are roses, daylilies, irises, orchids, cacti, bonsai and dahlias. Specialists form societies, clubs, associations and exchanges, through which they share information and help novices get started. They strive to create the perfect growing conditions for their favored plant.

LANDSCAPERS

These gardeners are often professionals. Their task is to create a setting or backdrop for a home, and then leave it alone. They use words like "balance," "mood," "color harmony" and "minimal maintenance." Their favorite plants are perennials and evergreens plus a few annual bedding plants. Hardscape features such as patios, walkways, edgings, and statues are as important to their compositions as shrubs and groundcovers. Like farmers, they have little tolerance for anything, growing or crawling, that interferes with their plans.

ARTISTS

Artists are gardeners of necessity. They are painters, illustrators, photographers and designers who grow their own still lifes and landscapes. What they grow usually depends on their artistic styles, but most eventually evolve into "collectors" or "nature lovers."

COLLECTORS

This is the gardener who tries anything and everything. If it lives, it stays in the garden. In a collector's garden you'll find annuals, perennials, evergreens, bulbs, trees, shrubs, vines and even a cactus or two, often jumbled together in the informal style of a cottage garden. Collectors like to visit other gardens and borrow plants and ideas. They like to experiment and dabble. Collectors allow a few weeds to grow here and there and are likely to encourage the presence of beneficial insects. They have little need for power tools because they prefer the crowded, unkempt look of twining vines and drooping limbs.

NATURE LOVERS

Most nature lovers become gardeners quite by accident. I began gardening because I wanted to encourage birds, butterflies and other creatures to wander across my yard. Besides, I figured if I was going to stay outside four or five hours a day, I'd better be doing something or the neighbors would question my actions and my sanity. Once I started digging I was hooked.

Nature lovers grow whatever attracts the local wildlife. My yard is filled with wildflowers, berry-producing vines, annuals perennials, roses, cedars, clovers, herbs, vegetables, cacti and weeds. It's also home to a dozen different birds, droves of insects, tortoises, lizards, armadillos, rabbits, frogs and an occasional snake.

Nature lovers seldom own power tools because they make too much noise and accomplish too much, too quickly. Nature lovers are dawdlers and putterers.

Further examination of these styles will glean two contrasting reasons for gardening. Farmers, specialists and landscapers are interested in the end product of gardening; they seek to produce it quickly, efficiently and correctly. They prefer "clean" gardens, devoid of weeds and insects. They employ machines, pesticides, mulches and fertilizers. They take pleasure in sharing their abundant crops with friends and neighbors.