Happy New Year!
Start With Resolutions and a Plan
By Jackie Sledge,
Big Country Master Gardener Association
Happy New Year! Welcome, 2024!
But what happened to 2023?
I opened the notebook where I had jotted down several New Year’s Resolutions for 2023, and I quickly realized that few – if any – had actually been accomplished during the year. Some of the resolutions and outcomes were:
- Plan menus and eat healthier. This lasted just a few weeks before I was preparing meals with whatever I could find in the pantry and the refrigerator, meals that could be prepared quickly when my husband reminded me that we hadn’t eaten dinner yet. (I added this to my 2024 Resolutions.)
- Organize the house, garage, and storage building, and donate items we hadn’t used in years. I worked on this several times during the year when I pulled everything out of closets and drawers to sort into piles of keep, donate, and trash. We walked around the piles of items on the floor, and when we found out we were having company, I quickly put the piles back into closets and drawers. This task was repeated again and again without ever being completed. (I added this to my 2024 Resolutions.)
- Add several new shrubs and plants to the existing landscape and add a few new beds. I purchased compost, mulch, raised beds, shrubs, and plants, but I ended up planting them temporarily in old beds. I rationalized that I didn’t want to rework beds until we had the roof and gutters replaced, painting completed, and other repairs done from the hailstorms earlier in the year. (I added this to my 2024 Resolutions.)
I’m sure you understand the dilemma I’m in. I have wonderful plans and great intentions of getting tasks completed, but life happens.
So, here are some of the 2024 Resolutions I’m carrying over from 2023:
- Plan menus and eat healthier. I have selected some healthy foods and will build meals around them.
- Exercise and walk to improve my health. I joined a health club last year, but I did not work out regularly. This year I will work out at least 3 times per week.
- Organize the house, garage, and storage building. I have made a schedule of which room to organize and clean with a date of completion penciled in to help keep me on track.
Now the Landscape Resolutions for 2024:
- Make a landscape plan and follow it. I will purchase plants to fit the plan and look for native and Texas Superstar® plants that will grow well in our area.
- Keep a garden journal. I will list all plants in the landscape and record all important information about each cultivar – common name, botanic name, category, planting date, size, color, water requirement, rainfall, etc. Pictures of the plants are valuable parts of the journal. I will also take a picture of the entire landscape on the first day of each month so I can document the changes throughout the year. This journal will help me know what grew, what worked, what didn’t work, and what I liked or didn’t like when I’m making plans for future changes.
- Plant some vegetables and herbs. I don’t plan on having a designated vegetable garden this year, but I can still plant vegetables and herbs in beds with flowers and shrubs or in pots on the porch. This can be a pleasing combination of plants and will also provide some fresh vegetables and herbs.
- Design a low maintenance landscape. I will add ground covers and lots of mulch to reduce weeds.
- Add drip irrigation to containers. This will lessen time spent on watering.
- Invest in quality garden tools and keep them clean and sharpened. I have added some ergonomic tools, and they have made gardening easier.
- Continue learning. I will attend horticulture programs, read gardening books and magazines, and check out information located on the Aggie Horticulture website.
- Add new hardscapes. I will complete the addition to the back porch, add rock or brick borders around flower beds, and use steppingstone pathways to beds by the back fence.
- Have fun. I want to get to the point where I can sit in my rocking chair, drink a glass of iced tea, enjoy looking at the landscape, and smile. I don’t want to spend all my time toiling in the landscape and being too tired to enjoy it.
I realize that’s a long list, but my goal is to get items completed so the tasks and maintenance will be lessened and the landscape enjoyed. I’ll let you know in January 2025 how this plan worked out.
If you have any questions, call the Taylor County Extension Office at 325-672-6048 or email us at mgardeners@yahoo.com. We hope you visit bcmgtx.org for information on all Big Country Master Gardener events, like us on BCMGA Facebook, and check out training presentations on BCMGA YouTube. We are here to help you.
