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A Gardener's Notebook: The latest incarnation of my column detailing the trails and tribulations of my garden. Join the list and ask your own questions about gardening Subscribe

We all love our gardens. Otherwise, we couldn't lavish so much attention and care upon them. Most of us spend hours each week watering and weeding, pruning and planting. As much as we love our gardens, though, sometimes we don't take the time to enjoy them as much as we should. I know from personal experience that I can find it difficult to just sit and enjoy my garden. I immediately see the weeds that need pulled, the blooms that need deadheading and the plants that need staked. Instead of enjoying the fruits of my labors I only see the labor yet to come. While working in the garden can be one of the joys of the hobby sometimes we need to avoid obsessing over every little detail and just bask in the glory of what we, in partnership with nature, have wrought.

Time Out

When you find yourself spending too much time thinking about your garden you need to get away, if only for a short time. One way to do this is to visit someone else's garden or have them visit yours. There are benefits for both of you.

I try to take the time to enjoy friend's gardens whenever I visit. Some are grand designs with huge plantings and others are nothing more than a green square with surrounding perennials that they don't even need to tend. Regardless, it allows me to enjoy a garden without worrying about this plant or that tree. I can just take it all in. Better still, the conversation, whether about gardening or other issues helps the owner to slow down and enjoy their own garden. I know that I feel much better whenever someone visits me in my garden.

Distracting yourself can be another way to enjoy your garden without worrying about it. A cup of coffee or tea and a nice book or newspaper is a great way to spend morning, noon or night in your garden. The morning smells of dew and damp, the crisp dryness of a summer afternoon can take you back to the elemental seat of your soul. People who study the human brain call this the "lizard brain." Frankly, this seems an apt description when I bask on a hot rock in my garden.

Too much

My predilection for computers and technology often leaves me staring out a window at the garden instead of sitting in the middle of it. I have installed a phone line and power on my patio, but the time required to move the computer out there and set it up stalls any hope of spontaneity. More and more I find myself curled up on a bench with a simple legal pad and one of my favorite fountain pens, scratching away. I need to make a point of enjoying my garden now as it is often too hot to be comfortable during our warm San Fernando Valley summers.

What is your favorite spot in your garden? Drop us a line on the AGN Mailing list and let us know. You can subscribe to the list or read an complete archive of my Gardener's Notebook by visiting http://www.welchwrite.com/agn/.