Inspired!

Oh dear,Dwyllis..that is such a shame about your garden...is there no one who can keep it weeded and tidy for you,till you can manage some yourself? ..It must be very frustrating,and to be in a lot of pain..I do hope if you have surgery,it alleviates it all for you..and I have never been to Sissinghurst either..but like you,maybe one day ..take care x

I wish I did know someone who would do that for me, Bloomer. I would happily pay for those weeds to be yanked out. My poor OH works full time, & his weekends are taken up with house renovations .....this weekend he has our recently-acquired door & frame to put up between end of hall & dining/kitchen areas. And our new garden shed was delivered yesterday, in kit form, so I know he will want to make a start on that, if it doesn't rain. As I am already in pain, I am thinking that I could try to do a small bit of weeding ....it is such a lovely day. Such a waste to be sitting day after day indoors. Yes, I think I might give it a go. Even if I only manage to do a tiny bit, at least I will not feel so miserable.

I can see how much your OH has to do,Dwillys..and not easy when you work,at the best of times..please don't overdo it,if you are in pain..I would willingly give you a hand,if I lived nearby..and thoroughly enjoy it...I quite like weeding ! Lol...keep your chin up,and I hope a bit of being outside in the sunshine,will lift your spirits ..just take care x

I spent 35 mins in the garden, Bloomer. The whole garden is totally choked with weeds ....a lot of buttercup & grass. I started some spadework just inside the brick edging, & pulled out some of the weeds, but was really worried I would damage the roots of all the plants in amongst the weeds, & the ground was damp & hard. Did not want to push my luck, so I decided to pull at the dense tangle of weeds, & a few came out with their roots, but the ground is so dense with roots, that most just tore off at ground level, leaving the roots in the ground. I know that is not a good way to weed, but in the circumstances ...... I thought at least the poor rose, lupins, daylily, foxgloves, red flax, & little shrub with variegated leaves & pretty small blue daisies with yellow centres (starts with B ...Brachy something I think), would have a better chance of surviving with fresh air circulating around them. When my disc has either stabilised or been fixed with surgical intervention, I can get stuck in & dig up all those roots. So I feel I have achieved something at last, & will continue, as only did a little area & it is a very long fence line garden. It's a small start & it will be interesting to see how my disc stands up to it. Usually the pain kicks in about one to two hours after activity. Who knows, it just might benefit from the bending & stretching!

I feel for you, being in pain does wear you down. Lets hope they operate soon and you can then start to make plans again. Dont try to do too much as no matter how bad the weeds get they can be over come in time when you have recovered.

Hope things improve for you soon. Surgery is not a pleasant thing to contemplate, but if it works ........ :o)

I feel so sorry for you and I can relate with the weed problem. Our garden helper just disappeared and I can't manage the garden alone. My hubby is working until late in the afternoons and he also struggles with back pain and had heart surgery. I don't know what to tackle first - the weeds or to spray for thrips. It feels I can just as well stop gardening. It is peak season for the daylilies, but most blooms are so ugly due to thrip damage that I just pick the blooms early in the morning and throw them in the garbage can. I must get some inspiration fast. Hope you will get well soon!

Get well soon xxx

Thrips, Daglelie? Is that another name for aphids? If so, it's my turn to relate to you! As I was pulling some weeds this afternoon, I saw that the roses are coveted in aphids, so I will spray them tomorrow. I guess we can only do what we can do. I've just had to take pain relief, which only ever just takes the edge off the pain, but it is due to walking around the park with my OH & puppy. Walking really triggers bad pain, but bending & stretching in the garden doesn't cause as much pain ... I discovered that today when I pulled those weeds ...my first time out in the garden for weeks. So I am hoping to be able to manage half an hour a day, weather permitting, & then it will look so much better. I took photos of our walk around the park, & will do a little blog on that at some point.

Could you use a weed killer on the worst of them then a thick mulch.

Insteas of walking Loki could you play training games in the garden, he could run about and you could bend down gently to reward him.
It sounds so painful Dwyllis x

Thanks Bloomer, Drc, Nariz, Daglelie, & TT. I do appreciate your concern. I think I am finally beginning to accept that I will have to have surgery, if I want to get a good outcome out of this. Having said that, I have a friend who nurses on this same ward as me, who today had her third spinal surgery. The first did not help with her pain. The second left her with nerve damage & a dropped foot at age 31, with four young children to care for. Several years on, living in chronic pain & on daily morphine, she has yet more surgery on her spine this morning. I guess that is one of the main worries I have regarding having surgery, but I realise that I cannot live like this ...not even able to walk my dog for ten mins without being in pain for hours after, & certainly not able to return to work like this, where I spend eight hours on my feet.

I'm sorry to hear about your health problems. I hope you'll be able to get some treatment soon, and that it helps you get back to a normal life.
I realise knowing about your friend is worrying you ... but I have a friend and a cousin who have had spinal surgery, and they are both now fine. So there are two positives ones for you :o)

Dwyllis, no, aphids and thrips are not the same. Thrips are very, very small like a comma when you types. They hide in the weeds and when the daylilies starts forming buds, they lay their eggs inside. They scrape the surface of the petals and suck the sap leaving a white mottled appearance. The flowers then becomes deformed and stunted if not attended to. Yeah that is what is happening now in my garden....

So sorry to hear you're in such pain, Dwyllis . . . very hard to cope with, especially when you want to be out in the garden DOING stuff. I think there are quite a few of us on this site who wish we were stronger (I have Chronic Fatigue syndrome) but a friend of mine told me she just does 15 minutes a day in the garden, which inspired me, because I thought "I can do that!". So I'm hoping that you'll be able to manage with just a little each day, and I wish you lots of luck if you do decide on surgery.