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My Garden » Forums » Over the garden fence » Reflections - What is a garden for? » talking to plants
Last post 01-07-2009 11:16 PM by richardpeeej. 46 replies.
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Welcome, Ann M. I tell my plants what I'm going to do ie 'Ill just mow the lawn then I'll come back and feed/water/ tie in/prune you'. I congratulate them when they flower, as in 'Look at you, you pretty thing!'. ,or commiserate with them if they're not very well; 'Oh dear, you don't look too good...' . I'm quite sensible the rest of the time......except that when I take a stroll round the 'estate' to see how it all looks, I can't resist stroking most of them. Anyway, if I don't go to bed soon I shall miss the morning sun we're supposed to be getting!
I spoke to my broadbeans after planting them out the other week. They looked so fine that I said 'hello beans' to them. I also like to touch them and run my hands up the stem and through the leaves.
I must confess i occasionally speak with my clematis, especially when they are coming into flower and I'm moving them into a better place for display, I usally say "right you, come with me" and also things like, "why've you started dropping your petals there !" when lifting veg for the showbench the conversation (although it's one way) can sometimes become a little "heated"
I find that telling a plant that if they don't do something this season they are 'for the compost heap' works well. A clematis that had sulked for over 10 years, since it had been moved (with an enormous rootball), was given the ultimatum last year. This year it has put on masses of growth already.
So, rule by the stick, not kind words! Of course,clematis might like the stick if it helps them to get above the surrounding plants?
A sozzled Susan B, having just had the first barbeque of the season
Well this is my first post, so it might as well be a confession too. Yes, I talk to my plants. I don't give them names though, especially the vegetables, it is not good to give names to something you plan to boil and eat. Sometimes I sing to them. My neighbours think I'm loopy, too bad.
Hmmmmmmmn Hello and welcome to the forum my friend, can I ask what do you sing to your plants? and does it has any beneficial effects?
I often talk to my plants/shrubs/trees. I am into Bonsai so I always talk to them. The only one 'named' is my Trout Begonia and he's called Walter Trout (that's for those of you who are into music). He came from the UK with me to Portugal in 2001 and was just a cutting, the son of his father Tiny Tim who I had for 25 years and gave to my friend .... Tiny Tim was about 3-4 meters tall.
Let's see if I can get a picture up of Walter (who by the way lives outside here) ...
I dont talk to plants, but I talk to snails and bees
Someone trod on a bee at the station this morning. I was very mad. I picked it up and tutted then placed it in the bushes. RIP
Poor bee, though they ought to have more sense than being on the ground in a busy station! I narrowly avoided standing on a bumble bee on my lawn the other day Lennie. Was very pleased with myself for missing it. I talk to the birds and shout nasty things at cats that stray into my garden.
Cats totally ignore humans, so they will probably be back
I clap my hands loudly if they go near my plants. Then they shoot off. Then come back an hour later demanding to be fed and looking all sheepish. Then they do it all again the next day!
I do talk to all my plants, even tell them off if they don't perform as they should, seeds and new plants going into borders get a welcome and good luck. The stars growing really well get congratulations.
The cats are a perennial nuisance, up to 7 will go throught the garden at some point, they know to look up to the house in case I come out to run them off the beds. It must pay off since I have no "mess" these days but they still choose a nice warm sunny spot and sleep amongst the plants!
I found a cheeky cat asleep in my clematis greenhouse!!
I have been talking to my avocado stone which has its base supported in a tumbler of water, asking it when it is going to root. It has been there for about two weeks now and has not done anything yet. I am wondering if it can understand my welsh accent!
i've only really talked to my mother-in-laws veggies when I was left the task of tending her garden and making up some sets while she was unable to tend it herself. Things like "Oh please don't die! It'll all be my fault, oh please grow into good plants or i'll never live it down, Arrghh LIVE!" Although, now I think on it, I do tend to tell my white climbing rose how beautiful it is every time I pass it and also, now I think on it, it gets even more beautiful each day...
I have two new Italian pepper plants. One had a teeny tiny fruit on it. Because he was Italian, and my first, I called him Primo. Then Primo died. I put him into the pot to turn him into compost. Poor Primo.