Why A Cutting Garden is On My Wishlist: Life Update

A cutting garden…Mark just rolled his eyes when I mentioned this one.  The last six months I have realized how important green space and seeing blooming flowers and shrubs is to me.  Earlier this year I wrote about the fact that we were moving here and then how we were adjusting to life in temporary housing here.  Now that we have been in temporary housing for a while we have really come to miss certain things.

Going from a huge yard with a pool to absolutely no yard has been eye opening for me.  I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed seeing plants and flowers blooming in the yard as I walked thru the house.  When we had the big yard I would pick up fresh flowers here and there at the grocery or other places, but that has changed.  The last six months have been different.  Rarely do I not have fresh flowers somewhere in the house because I have none to look at outside.  Our temporary housing has no yard and only one blooming hydrangea shrub.  That one and only flowering shrub is out the back door which we don’t really use and can’t really see.

That being said, you can usually find fresh flowers in our kitchen and on my desk.  Now that we have decided to build a new home I am starting to put together a wish list as we look for a lot.  Trust me, there will be plenty on that wish list.

Vase | Candle |Hand Cream | Sweater

Why I Want A Cutting Garden

I recently read a quote somewhere that said veggies nourish the body, but flowers nourish the soul.  That makes so much sense to me.  Just looking at a small bouquet makes me smile.  This study by Rutgers University found that flowers have an immediate impact on happiness and a long-term affect on mood.  Guess I am not alone with these feelings.

This summer I have been buying my flowers from a local grower at the Farmer’s Market just down the street from where we are living.  Each week the colors and varieties of flowers have differed because she brought what was blooming and needed to be cut.  Now that it is the end of the season and she is waiting for mums to bloom her options are limited.  So recently she brought bouquets of herbs.  I have always grown herbs, but never thought of putting them in a vase next to my stove until now.  Trust me, they will bring you as much joy as flowers and they smell wonderful.

What has been nice is that I have been able to chat with this sweet local flower farmer all summer.  Recently she invited me to come out to her farm since it is only a few miles away.  She sells her flowers to a few local florists and then she goes to a couple of small markets like I shop.  Granted it is the end of the season so most of her flowers have been plowed under, but here are a few photos.  Isn’t her she shed the cutest.

Waiting for the mums to bloom for Fall

The Type of Garden I Want to Have

Well, my cutting garden will be nothing like the one above.  I just want to be able to have a few bouquets in my house during season and to be able to look out the window and enjoy them as well.  From the research that I have done you can easily have a small cutting garden in a raised gardening bed or beds. Apparently, all the room that you need is 3 feet by 6 feet.  That also makes it easier when it comes to gardening chores.  Since we don’t plan to have a large yard again this will be the easiest option.

I know that I want to have perennials and blooming shrubs throughout the yard like I have been used to.  The raised beds would have the annuals and fresh herbs.

When to Plan A Cutting Garden

Fall is the time to start planning your spring cutting garden.  I have always preferred planting shrubs in my yard in the fall versus the spring.  It also seems to be when there is a greater variety of shrubs available here.  There are several blooming shrubs that you can use in arrangements that you might want to consider planting.  Some good are hydrangaes, butterfly bushes, oleander, and spirea.  I used to bring hydrangaes in from the yard all of the time at our previous home.

Perennials such as salvia, yarrow, stargazer lilies, and corabells are great to have spread throughout the yard are also good to have to include in arrangements.  Many of them are good stand alones too. After planting some flowering shrubs and perennials in the fall you will have time to figure out what annuals  and herbs to plant in the spring.

As I started thinking and dreaming about this wish list project I couldn’t get over the amount of information out there about this and the products to get you going.  Just take a look at these things below if you have any desire to grown your own herbs (great for cooking, but get expensive), flowers, or even a veggie or two.   You’ll notice that I linked a lot of elevated products so that we don’t have to bend down or get down on our hands and knees as much.  All a part of the downsizing/rightsizing phase of our lives.

Please let me know what you like to plant.  I’m always up for learning more about beautiful flowers and plants.

Just a Little THANK YOU

Thanks for taking the time to read this post.  I really appreciate it. Remember to always have a little SASs in your day.

Hugs,

The text that is underlined and shows up in a different color is usually a link to another blog post that I have written, another site, or a product.  The links to a product are affiliate links.  What that means is that if you click on a link to a product and make a purchase, Sassy for Short (a.k.a Beth) gets a small commission at no extra cost to you.  The same goes if you click on any of the pictures to get more information about a product.  I really appreciate you supporting the brands that make it possible for me to keep this blog going!