How did you become interested in Gardening? Who or what has inspired you?

Question

A friend of the family gave me the book, The Secret Garden, when I was about 10 years old. I loved the story, and wanted to have a garden. The next year, my family let me have a space about 10 ft. by 15 ft., and that was my first garden. It didn't have walls around it, like the one in the story, but it was still special! Later, I had an elderly friend, (and mentor) named Elisabeth, who taught me many things about plants (and life, too!) She was like an extra grandmother, and she was kind and wise.

Answer 1

I love this question! It's made me realize how much closer my mother and I have gotten over the last couple of years.

As a child I vaguely rememeber my parents having a garden but I do remember that it was big and they let me pick the carrots...lol. They quit having a garden while I was still young and mom would have a few house plants but that was about it. I never remember seeing her outside planting anything actually. With that said, it was actually my dad who initially inspired me but not in a way one would think.

Dad use to make me work in the yard, which I didn't mind most of the time at all eventhough he thought I did. He would trim the hedges and I would carry everything off to a pile. Occasionally he would get me out there mowing the grass and actually this was it! That was all of my "gardening" experiences as a child and teenager.

When I moved out on my own, I went to church and met the Lord Jesus Christ and He, with my youth pastor, Sandy's help, gave me a love for plants. A love for life. I found out that plants were not just alive but living! The Bible talks about how the trees clap their hands and how they sing praises to the Lord. This, initially, was my inspiration for what now has turned into a love for nature, thus gardening and landscaping.

I got a few houseplants, well over 20 actually...lol, in my little apartment and not only did I do the basics I also talked to them and just enjoyed them and found that I felt more in touch with God through them.

Now, 10 years later, I find myself in a new house with an opportunity to landscape a whole pretty much empty field and I'm so excited I can hardly stand myself!!

Back to my parents though, I can honestly say that this love for gardening has now brought me closer to both of my parents. My mother has heard me talking about landscaping so much that she's now into it again and so we have lots to talk about now! And my dad, well if you want to spend time with dad then you must work...lol. Since I love gardening and such I love to keep everything looking nice...thus the work. My dad is retired but mows many people's lawns for extra money, even at 77 he outworks me...lol but now I can actually spend time with dad and eventhough we are working I still enjoy it.

Thus, gardening has made my life better in so many ways it's unreal!!!! Thanks to the Creator who created all this for us to enjoy!

Answer 2

Hi!!

My mother has always (as long as I can remember) been a gardener. One of my brothers is also a gardener. However, I wasn't really into gardens, but into animals. That's how I started being interested in gardening. (I'm not your "normal" person!! LOL)

I have 2 horses (along with 3 cats and 3 dogs). I used to board my horses, but we now have enough land that I moved them home. I could look out into the field and not know if the plants out there were poisonous or not, so I started looking them up. I now can tell you what almost everything in my field (20 acres) is, even in the winter. I also have a garden that is all wildflowers (except for about 4 things I couldn't find in the wild). I can also tell you what many of their uses are (medicinal, edible and otherwise -- like flax and yucca fibers for making rope). I'm always looking up something, looking for a new plant, or looking for new uses for the ones I have. I've learned how to transplant things, gather seeds and what and when not to take a plant from the wild. I just really have a lot of fun!!!! I, now, love being able to go down a country road and KNOW what I'm looking at!!!!!

Answer 3

From my parents, especially my mom. You know though, I have a book my grandfather gave me years and years ago about trees; didn't realize back then how much I'd be into trees. During my growing up years my mom had vegetable gardens and planted/grew fruit trees. She still has a garden and fruit trees to this day and I have my own garden now too. Before I tried vegetable gardening, starting about 3 years ago, I had been growing everything else for alot of years. When I lived in apartments it was hard not having any soil to dig in but I did manage to grow plants in pots either on my balcony or near my front door. Eventually I even went to school again and earned an AS degree in Ornamental Horticulture and a BA degree in Horticulture and the Environment.

Answer 4

Three years ago when I moved into the neighborhood I didn't know anyone. The block was mainly older couples so the people pretty much kept to themselves. My mother is an avid planter and she told me that I should start gardening to keep from being bored. I laughed because I couldn't keep a plant alive for anything. I went to the nursery with her and that was it, after I planted my first plant, watched it grow and survive, I became addicted. I started buying books on it, watching television shows on it and talking to the workers at nurseries and asked their advice on things. My mom says now I'm even a better gardener than she is, which is a great compliment because she is and always was terrific at it. Well, a lot of new people moved onto the block, their young couples with children so while our kids play all day we all hangout and garden. We have a good time.

Answer 5

That's a great question! I think that I inherited gardening from my parents.. they always had a veggie garden and I had to help weed and hoe and pick veggies and fruits when they ripened. They weren't into aesthetic gardening like I am, but they still grew plants.

When I moved out onto my own, I started flower gardening on the patio of my apartment. It looked so bleak and bare and I thought it needed something. Plants made it feel more like home.

We inherited a garden with the purchase of our first home and I found that I loved to tend to it.. I enjoyed every aspect of it.. planting, mulching, building new beds.. etc.

We've relocated several times since and always left our places prettier than when we got there.. Increasing the curb appeal of our homes helped us compete with other homes that were for sale in our market and (I think) helped us sell more quickly and get a better price than those with less landscaping.

I don't have a particular person that I can thank, but I have a whole list of contributors... :-)

Answer 6

What a great book !!! My parents were farmers, so gardening is in my blood. I've planted flower gardens and vegetable gardens. I planted a little herb garden and have some plants in containers. Now I'm thinking about fruit trees. I think a lemon tree would be nice.

Answer 7

For me it was helping my grandfather with his garden. He'd have my brother and I help him pick strawberries. And I remember him growing sweet potatoe shoots by sticking a sweet potatoe in a mason jar with water. He'd suspend it above the water by sticking toothpicks in it. Once the shoots got so big he'd stick them in water.

Plus I remember him growing tomato plants under a shop light.

My grandpa died a few years ago. I now have his old garden book. It's probably from the 1940's. I've learned a lot about plants since then.

Now I have my own house and a small little hand tilled garden of my own.

Answer 8

I was never really big on gardening, but we bought a house a year ago and I have slowly started paying attention to the plants that are in our yard (and in our neighbors' yards) so our house looks nice.

This winter I got the idea of planting a butterfly garden, so I spent time planning and researching, and planted it this spring. It seems to have "started something" because now my fingers are itching to do more planting and landscaping projects...

Answer 9

I fell in love with gardening when I was living in Springfield, VA. in the late 1970's. We had a garden that gave us tomatos up to december each year (Virginia is really warm!). I loved being able to go out and pick things in the garden - especially the strawberries and other fruits. I've had the bug ever since.

Answer 10

I think I was born with it. I'm told when I was 5 or so, I would transplant things I thought were pretty into a space they gave me as my own garden. My dad called it my "weed garden", because they thought everything I put in there was a weed. (Violets, Queen Anne's Lace...which I pegged as wild carrot just by my explorations, and I don't know what else).

Apparently they couldn't keep me out of the dirt...