The joy of having a garden is the daily walk of anticipation to check and see what's new and what's happening in your lovely oasis. Finding new growth, little flower buds ready to burst open and the beginnings of little fruits and vegetables. It is all so satisfying.
I feel like all of my plants appreciate my presence, attention and care.
I always feel positive vibrations.
Especially when I am watering.
When watering one can feel the air surrounding you and the plants, cleaning and humidifying. I think of the roots taking a big satisfying drink of water. I always like to flip the sprinkler nozzle around to just watch the droplets dance everywhere, like it's raining - giving them and me, a cool shower and a bit of relief from the heat. Also, the beautiful reflection rainbow that appears as the light is reflected inside the droplet and finally reflected out again into the air. Feels like magic...
I know that they advise you to water early in the morning so that the foliage will have a chance to dry before nightfall. Because if the leaves are wet when it cools down at night the plant may have problems with fungus and disease.
But, I have to say that I have watered - on more than one occasion, during the day - during the hottest time of the day because I felt sorry for the plants - sometimes they look stressed under really hot conditions. I do however get down low and try and water under the plants - but I also do like to sprinkle the whole plant - thinking that I am cooling it off. No fungal problems yet - fingers crossed.
While I'm sprinkling, I wash out and refill several containers that I have set out for the birds, squirrels and anyone passing through that needs a drink. I have seen squirrels lying on their tummy's and drinking quite a bit. Good to know that I'm providing water for them in hot weather. I also enjoy birds taking baths in the containers I have set about. They are not deep, and I put a brick in the middle so that no one will have a problem in the water.
I even think of all of the bees, butterflies and bugs drinking off of the droplets on the leaves.
There might also be Fairie folk in my gardens - loving a cool shower and filling their little buckets with fresh, cool water.
I don't know if the watering does more for my garden plants or more for me - it always leaves me with a satisfying, full feeling.
When I water in the morning - I tell everyone "Good Morning, it's going to be a beautiful day." And, if I water in the evening, I tell my plants "Good Night, sleep well, see you in the morning."
We have had quite a bit of rain this spring/summer - and even though it appears that it has rained enough - sometimes it just hasn't. It might rain hard and just kind of run off - or the 10-minute rain might only just touch the surface....so, I always scratch back the soil to see how much rain actually got down into the soil. We have rather sandy soil...live near Lake Michigan/Bay...so, the water does tend to run off when the beds are mounded higher....so, I make sure that I take a lot of the compost from our chickens/leaves/and vegetable peelings and mix that into this sandy soil. Hopefully building it up each year. Apparently, it works...my gardens are always beautiful.
I keep a big rain barrel and water my plants with the collected water when the barrel is getting too full...has to be the best for them. I keep several goldfish in the barrel, and they seem to love living there in the warmer weather and then they go into a tank in the greenhouse in the colder months.
Watering my gardens reminds me of the way I feel when I hang bed sheets on my clothesline. Some people may think of it as a chore. I think of it as a reason to slow down, enjoy my beautiful surroundings, feel blessed and be grateful. While moving in this rhymical type movement - my mind and body float into a deep, relaxing state of mind.
And that is a very good thing for my soul and spirit.
