I moved up to Alberta, Canada 4 years ago from the USA and we spent the first 6 months getting the house in shape, a tough time but well worth it. I used to work at Investar USA back in the States and so I knew that addressing the interior of the home was the best move to get started with. The last job on the list was the garden, something which we couldn’t afford to fix at the time, and an area of the house which we just kept putting off. We continued down a viscous cycle from summer to winter, the summer months we bemoaned not doing the garden, by the time winter came we forgot, until summer came around again and we hated ourselves for not doing it. Last year I bit the bullet and we to see a lender to borrow some cash, and finally got our garden done. It wasn’t finished until the end of summer, so we are only just beginning to enjoy it. If you have found yourself in a similar cycle, here is why this summer you need to put it to an end.
First Days
The first days of summer used to serve us as a reminder that our garden looked absolutely atrocious, there are few things more embarrassing as a homeowner than to watch the sun blaze down and highlight the pile of junk and the growing weeds and moss in the garden. This summer however, everything was different, as the first days began we leapt at the opportunity to get out on the decking or to sow some bedding plants, I would say that the investment was worth these moments alone.
Socializing
Most of the homes here in our neighborhood have beautiful gardens and they would often ask us to come over for a BBQ or for some afternoon drinks on the lawn. My wife and I always felt great shame when we did this because we knew that we would never be able to repay the favor, unless it was an indoors affair. This year however everything is different and we have already had friends over to enjoy our garden. In fact we are even looking at renting a hot tub and getting projector so that we can watch some sports out there, it is like a new world of opportunities.
Kids
I don’t realize just how much we were depriving our kids until they got out and played in the garden this year, and I actually feel really bad that they couldn’t do it for such a long time. Kids absolutely love getting out in the sunshine and the fact that they can now do so in our very own garden is something which really does fill me with joy. If you have kids and you haven’t got a garden that they can play in then this is a massive reason why this is the year that you should get that garden sorted out.
You will not regret it.
