Unleashing the Power of Positive Mindset and Knowledge in Fine Gardening: A Guide for Success

I've been working as a gardener for some time now, and still to this day, one of my favorite parts of my job is weeding. You must think I'm joking--how could anyone like weeding? But I'm serious about this! To me, weeding is meditative, cathartic, passive, and a really great exercise. Not only that, the byproduct of weeding makes your garden look tidy, fresh, and aesthetically pleasing.

I bet you never thought weeding could be all of those positive things? The key here is altering your mindset about weeding so that it's not just another chore you're obligated to do, but rather a positive practice that you want to do. Today I'm going to focus on how fine gardeners weed the weeds with a few tricks and tips to make weeding a positive part of your garden practice.

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Positive Gardening Mindset

Mindset has been the focus of a lot of blogs, podcasts, and books the last couple of years. From the typical chill-yoga mindset to positive financial money mindset--it's obvious that the lens we choose to view the world through will help to have a positive mindset about things or topics that haven't traditionally been seen as positive. Ok, so how does one go about having a positive mindset about seemingly mundane chores like weeding the weeds?

Achieving a positive mindset starts with accepting a situation and choosing to be optimistic. These choices are often associated with resilience and the ability to make lemonade out of lemons. What I mean by this is when you start going about life with acceptance and coming up with solutions to problems, it's easier to be positive and see the bright side of just about anything. I've personally found that not stressing or worrying about things that I have little-to-no control over have freed up a ton of mental brain power. When I accept a situation and come up with a simple solution, I tend to stay more calm and less stressed.

Nick Trenton wrote Stop Overthinking: 23 Techniques to Relieve Stress, Stop Negative Spirals, Declutter Your Mind, and Focus on the Present (The Path to Calm Book 1), and states that "acceptance doesn't mean we agree with what happened or that we like it and shouldn't try to change it. It only means we gracefully come to terms with what we can't realistically change, so we can focus on what we can." Another good read is The Happiness Advantage: How. a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life by Shawn Achor. This book focuses on achieving an increasing workplace positivity (the garden is a workplace!) and I found it particularly poignant when Achor noted that "the mental construction of our daily activities, more than the activity itself, defines our reality."

What I mean by telling you all this is that gardening is no different than anything else in your life--whether it be work, marriage, or finances; in order to achieve success, you first have to change your mindset to be positive and, quite simply, happy. Achor's book ultimately concludes that success does not produce happiness; but rather happiness produces success! To be successful in the garden and with your garden, you first need to work on you and your mindset--what I've dubbed to be positive gardening mindset. Achieving positive gardening mindset isn't an overnight process, but overtime shifts toward a decluttered and calm mind will help with success in the garden.

Bringing the positive gardening mindset full circle, if you alter the way you perceive weeding or other mundane garden chores, you may even begin to enjoy weeding (I know I do!). Mindset, however, is just the first part to achieving full garden zen and beautiful success.

Knowledge is power: knowing the weeds

Morning glory

Herb Robert

Buttercup

Yellow archangel

Catsear

Once you've started working towards a positive garden mindset, you'll need to equip yourself with knowledge. And by knowledge I mean knowing how to identify the weeds in your garden. At first, your gardening practice may be as simple as identifying weeds from planted plants and then removing those weeds. What is a weed? Huw Richards defines a weed as any plant growing where it's not supposed to grow. I wrote a post identifying a few common weeds in the Pacific Northwest, which is a good place to start learning. Visit your local Agricultural Extension, Department of Agriculture, or county website to find out more about noxious and invasive weeds that are common where you live.

As you become more familiar with identifying weeds, you should also educate yourself on what those weeds are trying to tell you. Sometimes plants that appear to be weeds are actually native wildflowers, edible, only growing where the soil is devoid of nutrients, or can be an integral part of your compost system.

For instance, did you know that curly and broadleaf dock are incredibly difficult to remove weeds that may outcompete many of your planted plants for sunlight and water? However, docks have long tap roots that mine trace minerals from deep in the soil and accumulate those minerals in their stocks and leaves. When dock is added to your compost (without seeds, of course), you're supplying your compost with all those trace minerals accumulated in the stocks and leave. Additionally, dock leaves are edible if harvested when young and still curled.

Even more interesting, some gardeners turn their weeded weeds (and other plant material) into liquid plant food! This is an experiment I'm going to try this year and I'll update you on the progress later in the spring and summer. The idea is to decompose the weeds in water, so that the nutrients remaining after decomposition can be fed to the garden as a liquid compost. Liquid nutrients are arguably easier for plants to utilize right away because the plants can easily uptake liquids via their roots. Huw Richards likes to use nettles, dandelions, dock, and other plant material in his liquid plant food.

So when weeding the weeds, it's important to know what you're weeding and why. If a weed is native and actually plays an important role in the ecosystem, why not leave it? Or if you're set on having the garden bed tidy and weed-free, try composting the weeds in a pile or turning it into liquid compost. It's up to you as the gardener to decide when it's appropriate to remove or keep a weed in a garden--but be conscientious of what you're removing so that it can be replaced somehow.

Equip yourself with the right tools

Having the right tools to get the job done is incredibly important to your garden mindset and helps with efficiency. Gardening is a lot like baking in this way. You wouldn't try making brownies without a mixing bowl, spoon, and a pan to bake the brownies in, would you? So why would you go out into the garden without a pair of pruners, a weeding tool, and a bucket?

Take a trip to your local garden shop or hardware store to do research on some of the basic garden tools. Pick up and feel how different tools fit in your hand, the weight of the tool, or even wood versus plastic handles. Find the tools that work for you, your body, and your garden. You don't have to get anything fancy, even an inexpensive tool will get the job done time and time again if the tool is maintained and stored correctly.

If you're at a loss of where to start with tools, I wrote another post on the basic hand tools for beginner fine gardeners. While I wouldn't show up for a gardening job without any of the tools mentioned, my top three tools are ARS hand pruners, a Japanese weeding sickle, and a bucket to toss weeds in. Your gardening tool kit could start out as simple as those three basic tools and you'll be amazed at how quick and easy weeding will be.

Once you have a few tools in your kit, you can get to work on garden maintenance. Some tools are designed to remove a singular plant, like this dandelion puller. While other tools are meant to increase efficiency and remove several smaller plants all at once. Hula Hoes come in a variety of sizes from narrow to wide and can really help weeding lots of plants quickly.

PPE helps get the job done

PPE (personal protective equipment) is important for any physical job--especially gardening. The goal behind PPE is to protect you from various hazards associated with getting the job done. And because PPE is meant to protect you, it's important to protect your most vulnerable body parts; for me that's hands, knees, and eyes.

Garden gloves for hand protection

I used to garden without gloves because I like to feel the soil on my hands. However, after a few hours of planting, digging, and weeding, my hands start to get rubbed raw from the soil and the tools. I've developed blisters on parts of my hand that I didn't even think could develop blisters! After many years of trying different glove brands, I now only use Wonder Grip Nicely Nimble women's gardening gloves. These gloves fit my small hands snuggly and last the longest. I like how the palms and fingers are coated with water-resistant nylon that holds up well over time. A pair of Wondergrip gloves last me about 1-2 months, while similar brands last maybe 5 days before developing holes in the fingers.

It's important that you find a pair of gloves that fit your hands and make you feel comfortable while gardening. There's lots of different styles, sizes, thicknesses, and materials to choose from when picking out garden gloves. While you're at the store trying out tools, make sure to stop in the glove section to try on different pairs too.

Knee pads fo knee protection

I started wearing knee pads a few years ago and it was life changing! When I worked as a farm hand on an organic farm, I would spend hours squatting and kneeling in the dirt transplanting seedlings. I never even thought of wearing knee pads back then. Now a days, I strap on my knee pads in the morning at the same time I put on my gloves. Knee pads add an extra layer of cushion on your knees so that you can kneel on the ground while planting or weeding. As an extra bonus, the knee pads protect my pants from getting outrageously dirty and I get fewer holes in my pant knees now. I like these NoCry Home and Garden Knee Pads, which have velcro straps for easy putting on and taking off.

If you don't like the look of knee pads or need extra cushion while kneeling, square foam garden pads work great too. I move around so much while gardening that these foam pads don't work well for me. However, they're great if you're spending longer amounts of time in one section of the garden. As a bonus, these pads made nice seats and keep your bum from getting wet and muddy!

Safety glasses or sunglasses for your eyes

While eye protection is most important when using and operating electric or gas powered garden tools like lawn mowers and weed whackers, there's definitely times when eye protection is necessary when weeding. For instance, when I know I'll be pulling euphorbia weeds, I always wear safety glasses to protect my eyes from chemical burns. Chemical burns!? Yes, some plants produce chemicals that are skin irritants and could cause blindness in addition to rashes, blisters, and increased sensitivity to sunlight. Be careful and protect yourself! If you don't have safety glasses, sunglasses work well too.

Have a plan of attack and stick to it

Whether I'm in my own garden or a client's garden, I always come up with a POA--or plan of attack--to help accomplish goals systematically. Usually the POA consists of breaking the garden down into smaller sections that get weeded in order of immediate necessity. I.e., start in the section where weeds are the most overgrown, and end in the areas where weeds are sparse. Other times I'll focus on removing only one type of weed from the entire garden. Another method is focusing on pulling all the large and tall weeds first and then pulling the smaller weeds last.

Ultimately, you need to choose which method works for you or what the client asks of you. But most importantly, develop a plan of attack and stick to it! Don't abandon the POA halfway through the job, unless the POA stinks and you come up with a better method.

Focus and then focus on something else

Ok, so weeding may not be the most mentally stimulating activity by itself, but you can turn it into a rewarding time of the day you look forward to. Once you've started working on your positive garden mindset, know a little bit about the weeds you're weeding, have equipped yourself with the right tools and PPE, and you've come up with a POA--you may be ready to focus some brainwaves on something else.

If you're lucky enough to be gardening with a friend, family member, or coworker, weeding is a great time to spill the beans and talk! When your hands are moving and you're digging in the soil, thoughts and ideas may flow naturally to you. There's no better time to vocalize those thoughts than when you're weeding. If you're alone but want to talk to someone, put in those ear buds and call a friend!

If you're not in the mood to talk to anyone, try listening to a podcast, audio book, or music to pass the time. I love all three and choose whichever I'm in the mood for depending on the weather or task at hand.

On the completely opposite spectrum, maybe you just need some quite time to think or meditate. Use the time in the garden weeding to listen to the sounds of nature and meditate on the meaning of life. You'll be amazed at how much better you feel after giving yourself some time to just be quiet and think. Extra bonus: quiet thinking time helps with achieving your positive gardening mindset.

Step back and admire what you've accomplished

Gosh it sure feels good when you can actually see what you've accomplished. Every now and then, take time to drink water and take a micro-break. Physically step away from the garden, take your break, and then come back to look at what you've accomplished. It's a really positive affirmation to see what you've accomplished in the garden. To me, this helps keep my morale up when there's a lot of weeds to weed or when the weather is awful and brining me down.

Take pictures, lots of pictures

Admiring what you've accomplished can be aided with lots of before and after pictures. It's hard to remember what a garden looked like before you started weeding it. Make sure to take pictures from lots of different angles to hi-light your weeding accomplishments from various points-of-view. As an added bonus, before and after pictures turn into a visual garden diary that you'll love looking at in the winter months when the garden is barren and soggy. Pictures also help with planning next year's garden and weeding schedule.

Have a weeding schedule

My last tip for helping you weed the weeds is to come up with a weeding schedule. Your schedule doesn't have to be completely rigid, but it should have enough definition to help ease any anxiety about weeds in the garden. We all go throughout life marching to our own beat, so make sure to develop a weeding schedule that works for you and makes weeding not feel like a chore. Here are a few different schedules to help:

• Weed for 10 minutes every day before or after your day job.

• Weed for 1 hour every Saturday.

• If you work from home, devote 15 minutes of your lunch break to weeding, 5 days a week.

• Break the garden up into 4 zones and weed one zone a week (example: zone 1 is weeded during the first week of the month and zone 4 is weeded on the last week of the month).

• Have a weeding date with a friend or partner once a month (two sets of hands make for a lighter work load and fewer hours needed weeding!).

Takeaways

The most important thing to remember is that gardening is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. Weeding is a chore, but it can also be an enjoyable part of your gardening practice, especially if you take the time to work on your positive gardening mindset and stick to a schedule. Equip yourself with the tools and PPE to help aid in the tasks at hand. And knowledge is power: never stop learning and continue to educate yourself so you can make good decisions and enjoy gardening more. And lastly, give yourself a pat on the back for your accomplishments; gardening is no easy task, so take the time to admire your work and take pictures to document before and after weeding. Happy gardening!