Mindful weeding

by Kendall Platt May 13, 2019

Weeding, probably the most dreaded garden job of all, well for me anyway.

It’s at this time of year as the weather gets warmer after plenty of April showers that it’s time to play the much adored game of ‘Weed or Flower’. As you gamble with the chance that the thing you are unceremoniously unearthing is an unwanted weed versus a much sort after and paid for perennial that’s waking up after its winter kip. And then there’s those annuals you grew last year that have spread their seed throughout your borders and are now starting to germinate and grow- don’t even get me started on those!!

Dark brown soil covered in weeds and self seeded annual plants

So I thought I’d show you a quick bit of mindful weeding (I do spoil you with the most exciting things don’t I!).

In all seriousness, it’s one of the things we all have on our to do lists, so why not use it as a relaxation tool?

Here’s what you’ll need. A trowel, a container and some gloves, although there is something calming about getting your hands in the soil. It depends how precious you are about getting dirt stuck up in your nails I guess.

Cardboard box full of weeds, a metal trowel and a pair of blue briers gardening gloves

It’s pretty simple really. The mindful element of weeding comes from really noticing the shape of the different plants growing, using this information to make your decision on weed or flower and then finally plunging your trowel into the ground. Hearing that familiar chink as the metal of the trowel connects with the stones and in that moment I feel truly earthed.

If I’ve had a particularly tough day I like to transfer my negative feelings into the weeds, dig them up and discard them and my negative emotions along with them.

This helps me not to dwell on or overthink about whatever happened that day that made me feel bad.

If you’re not sure whether it is actually a weed leave it to get a bit bigger- you’ll soon know once it starts flowering. Plus some ‘weeds’ provide brilliant food for the bees , yes even the dreaded dandelions. So they’re not all bad!

Self seeded larkspur seedlings mixed with a few weeds in a patch of soil

Finally if you’ve got self seeded plants such as these larkspur just thin them out a bit you can even replant the ones you dig up elsewhere in your borders. Free plants always make me happy!

Evenly spread out larkspur seedlings in the same patch of soil as the previous image with no weeds amongst them!

Mindful weeding

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