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Spring is in the air. Have you noticed? The days are
getting longer, the daffodils and hyacinths are out, The birds are
twittering earlier in the morning. Ahh I'm positively poetical. Hmm...I
guess you're feeling a bit puzzled, (What the heck is she on about probably
springs into your mind). One word, Gardening... Would you consider yourself
a fair weather gardener? Hmm Have you been sat all winter well wrapped in
your woolly sweater watching the TV, studiously ignoring all those pathetic
weeds in your flowerbeds? (I know I have)... But the sun starts shining, the
birds start singing, everything outside your window looks unbearably dreary,
suddenly you're feeling energised and the pangs of guilt become to much to
bear... Out comes the spade and the barrow (or whatever you use) you start
digging with gusto and... You can't move the next day (ouch) Classic case of
Gardener's Back. I've done it loads of times. (Have you).. Mmm.. lets have a
think, We have a couple of choices here, you can either let the weeds in
your garden take over your life, or you can be sensible about how you
approach the whole gardening thing. So What's it going to be? And What
difference does it make (except to your back of course) Lets take a logical
approach, Does it matter if you take a week to get your garden into a
semblance of something approaching nice, Hey it's been choked in weeds
anyway all winter.. Why does it have to be done in those few measly allotted
hours you gave yourself? You really are risking a serious injury. Be
sensible and do it properly, (heck I sound like my mother here). If you
think about it logically, gardening is a form of exercise. All athletes will
tell you, you should never exercise without doing those warm ups first.
Without warm ups, tense muscles will crack and moan under the strain you put
them under. So are you warming up before straining all those muscles you
haven't used for months? Of course your not.. Word of advice, Take it in
bite sized pieces... do a bit at a time... It's really surprising how much
you can get done in just an hour a day. Because thinking to yourself that
you'll just have another half hour, or you'll just finish that last bit, is
absolutely fatal. (And could be the bit that does your back irreparable
harm). Ok, you might say this is cracking a peanut with a hammer, but have
you considered drawing up a plan of action for your gardening tasks and
sticking to it. Decide beforehand what you are going to do, (and remember to
go easy on yourself, especially when you first start). Do a bit at a time,
Have a break (maybe a coffee) and then tackle that next bit. Before you know
it, you will have a garden good enough for Gardeners world, and you won't
kill yourself in the process... Hmm now where did I put that trowel?
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