Do you ever sit in your garden alone and just enjoy it? Or…

[BigDahliaFan]

….are you sitting there thinking, must prune that, or I’ll just fix that…etc etc.
im sitting here with a cup of tea, Merlin the bird app, the cat and just enjoying it.

I have a hammock in my permanent gazebo at the back of the garden. One of my favourite things to do is to just lay out there listening to the birds, the sounds of kids playing in the distance, and feeling the sun and breeze on my face.

I definitely try to, have a couple of areas to sit with a cup of tea/wine and try to be present. Always things niggling though so lists made….

I have an outdoor sofa under an awning, I sit out most sunny days in the spring/summer/early autumn and nap in the sun like a cat.

When i first had the garden done it was a blank slate with just grass and one long flower bed. I did used to sit out and have a breakfast cuppa there while enjoying all that was mine.

Very quickly I planted things in the ground, then in pots, then a greenhouse, then planted up the front garden too. Now I microwave a lot of cold tea because I just want to do that one thing that transforms into the garden black hole of time.

Last week I was sat under my blossom tree in my reclining chair, with the blossom dropping on me, I felt like I was at a wedding!
I have my drink on the table beside me, the dog snuffling around the garden, while I’ve got the bird app on. Bliss.

Um yes.

How is this even a question?!

Both!

I love my garden. I enjoy it and think about what I need to do, but not obsessively or in a way that destroys the enjoyment

Nope, but it is a dream of mine! 3 young kids and a big garden with lots to do...

Not as often as I'd like (work and a 3 year old means quiet, alone time is scarce) but yes. I love the merlin app too.

Often though I'll sit "watching" while DD plays out there though, which is a bit of chilled time watching the birds and enjoying the plants.

However, I do know how much needs doing too 😂

Yes often. There are plenty of jobs to do but they'll still be there half an hour later when I've had my cuppa and read my book!

We only have a small garden, some days I can sit with a book and a drink under the sunshade quite happily ignoring what needs to be done.

Never. I'd love to but I have neighbours from hell. The noise is bad enough when I'm in my house with the windows shut, let alone being outside. Plus their trampoline is pressed against my fence so there's now zero privacy. I dream of the days before they moved in 😫

If you are a keen gardener, sometimes you can forget to relax and just enjoy the garden. You always notice things that need doing. Some people always need to be busy in general, and have to make an effort to do nothing.

That's why this is a question. (Notes again the recent MN effect of slightly aggressive replies to everything)

I never just sit. I always have to be doing something. I don't know why. I wish I could relax more.

Oh I recognise that ‘just one thing’😒

Yes I love doing this, especially with a cup of tea & a good book

It’s even better if I’ve just mowed the lawn!

I’d love one of these, no money to do it.

Husband did offer to build something, it involved corrugated iron or corrugated plastic and I said no….conjured up shanty town images, I don’t think his skills and image matched my image .

Me too, or I find the mug of cold tea the next day…

I've just had my tea and toast wrapped up snugly in my dressing gown. Enjoying the birdsong, while the dog pottered around. I love sitting out with a book but I do sometimes find myself pottering around doing just one more thing.

My favourite bit of the early morning summer days is to make a coffee or tea and just wander around the garden, checking all the pots, staring at the borders to see what's about to flower and dead heading any flowers that have finished.

I also do the same in the late afternoon, this time with a glass of wine or a gin and tonic.

Perfect ways to enjoy the garden.

What a great thread!

This last 10 days of sunshine after the gloom of winter have actually made me reevaluate my priorities.

Possibly because of my upbringing, I’ve always felt guilty if I’m ’not doing anything’ My mother was always on about laziness and ‘the devil finding work for idle hands’ and necessity of always finding something to do.

However, I’ve made a conscious effort in the last fortnight to put aside my phone, ignore the internet and stop going down rabbit holes online and just lose myself in a book in the sunshine in my lounger - and it’s been wonderful! I’ve genuinely felt so much better, less anxious, more relaxed and I’m convinced I’m sleeping better too. Just to be able to close my eyes, feel the gentle warmth of the sun before the heat of summer and to listen to birdsong has recharged my batteries completely.

Yes. It's my absolute favourite thing to do. We are expecting 20c and sunshine today so that is exactly what I'll be doing this afternoon. I have a garden sofa under an awning, me and the cat will chill and listen to the birds and enjoy the warmth. Relaxing is what I do best 😁

If I could figure out how to rig up my extra monitors etc on the garden table I'd be working out there today.

Lunch al fresco will have to do.

I hate gardening but like a nice garden! I've not been able to sit outside and enjoy my fancy new garden furniture yet because of 'things'.

Yesterday, I spent an hour heaving ivy that's over growing from my neighbours side on their wall, back over to their side. I also kept spotting weeds so had to get the weed burner out whilst entertaining doggo.

I've got to weed my pots next and get some things to go in them.

My garden is ridiculously long and narrow but it has a fence and a gate a third way up from the house. The house end is concrete ànd gravel with pots. We don't talk about the grassed two thirds beyond the gate...!

Yes, I have an egg chair and you’ll find me out there as often as not in the spring and summer, weather permitting.

I find it really difficult to just sit and relax in the house during the day, but have no problem doing it outside!