Housework in the garden

I'm often asked this question - do I not think of regular gardening, such as weeding, as a sort of outdoor housework? 

And the answer, of course, is no, I don't! 

Housework - dusting, polishing, hoovering - is dull, boring, endless, and thankless. You do it, and yes, the place looks lovely for five minutes, but no-one except you really notices, and then next week, you have to do it all over again.

Weeds, on the other hand, grow differently every time: even the perennial nuisances like bindweed and ground elder have the decency to pop up in different places, or grow unexpectedly tall, or short. And once you've had a good go at them, you are often free of them for months at a time. 

The act of doing the weeding is not dull - I'm experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of the great outdoors, there is often a chirpy Robin or Blackbird coming to see what I'm turning up for them: and I'm getting lots of exercise. (And being paid, of course!) 

I find that people are always commenting on how nice the garden looks: but I have yet to have a visitor at home say “ooh, aren't your mirrors clean!” or “wow, your shelves are really lovely.” 

Am I alone in this? 

Or do you think that gardening is like housework?!
 

 

 

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