Getting into gardening — Bose photography

Things I have learnt about gardening

1. I like gardening. This is a lesson learnt as it is not something that I had really appreciated before. I like choosing which seeds to sow and seeing the shoots emerge. I like the creative process of planning what would suit the different parts of the garden. I like learning which plants are beneficial for bees and other pollinators.

One of the reasons for trying to turn my fingers green, metaphorically speaking, is photography: this is a photography blog and if I did not explain my ulterior motive then, well, it would not make sense.

The way my mind works is that the photos of mine that I like the best are the ones that have had time and emotional investment; thus, if I offer my time to gardening I am hoping that some lovely photos of bees or other insects will ultimately result.

2. The second learning point is that one can make miniature plant pots from strips of newspaper, rolled into a cylinder, or for a more robust tube, wrap the newspaper around the cardboard from a toilet roll. This idea appealed to me as I did not want to buy plastic trays and throw them away afterwards; there is enough plastic waste in the world. The other method I have tried, which works really well, is re-using plastic food containers. Granted, both the newspaper and plastic container ideas are obvious, I just had not considered these kind of things before - as I was not a gardener before.

3. The watering can is vicious. I am pretty sure that the random torrents that come from the sprinkler head are directly responsible for some of my seeds not germinating. It may well be that the torrents displaced the seeds entirely and I am patiently waiting for tubes of compost to sprout from non-existent seeds.

4. Names of plants. It is much more satisfying to know the names of plants, and weeds, in the garden.

5. Peat-free compost is a good thing. The fact that peat is used in composts just goes to show how distorted the world can be: peatland habitats with their wild flowers are destroyed so that we can feel good about how flowers in our garden are thriving. Crazy. I liked a quote I saw on Twitter, using peat for compost is like dismantling a cathedral in order to use the rubble (@TheMontyDon).

6. I want to learn more in the realm of entomology. This year I planted borage, cornflowers, nasturtiums, strawberries and lupins, all specifically chosen for bees. I have high hopes for the borage as I have so much of it that I had to give some seedlings away, and moreover, it is meant to be really good at attracting bees. But different bee species prefer different flower species and this is not something I have factored in to my sowing plan. And then there are other insect groups to consider; how excellent would it be to succeed in enticing hawk moths to the garden?

7. I should have started this earlier!