Challenged by the moles, drought, excessive heat, a plethora of bugs, and other feathered and non-feathered wildlife, I don’t really know why I bother.
My lawn looks patchy, my vegetable patch is a buffet for a variety of critters, and my roses look like they’ve spent days getting blasted by a hairdryer.
Still, I find spending time in my backyard a nice stress reliever that gets me off the couch, away from the computer, and wondering about things outside the confines of my job or my house.
Some people exercise to clear their heads. Others read or do puzzles.
I flatten mole tunnels and wonder why my grass is turning brown.
Right up there with walking my dog, testing my green thumb is a job that’s part fun, part futile. But it’s a (sometimes expensive) hobby that I’ve carried around from country to country, state to state.
In England, where I helped my parents with our little garden, we didn’t have to worry about not having enough rain. In Pennsylvania, the soil was dark and rich and animals were a bigger headache than whether things would grow.
North Carolina, especially in the coastal plain, is a different animal.
Sandy soils, Mother Nature fighting with itself over whether to bring too little rain for weeks or too much all at once, and a collection of insects that would make an entomologist happy are just some of the challenges I’ve learned to navigate during my time in Wilmington.
Some things grow well, like muscadines and blueberries. And some things have no chance, like seemingly everything else I plant.
Gareth McGrath is a reporter at the StarNews in Wilmington, NC.
Still, I find my journey into mostly futility a fun one. Trying to grow grass on a glorified beach in mostly drought conditions when I refuse to run my sprinklers most days is a fool’s errand. But when my grass is green and seed takes, it’s surprisingly satisfying.
And it’s a good thing I like spicy foods, because peppers love our climate − even to the point that I can’t kill them.
On a good day, my roses that haven’t blown away or been eaten by insects are there for me. On a bad day, they’re still there for me. And yes, like King Charles, we sometimes have conversations.
Everyone has their releases, their escape room where things just seem simpler and more fun. We all need one or two.
Mine is in my garden, at least I think it is as I wonder where the heck this latest underground mole highway came from.
Please find yours, and never let anyone tell you it isn’t the best therapy out there.
Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@usatodayco.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from Journalism Funding Partners. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Why gardening is therapy for some people
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