Last year in late July my parents decided that it would be a good time to redo all of the garden around our pool and in front of the house. They had asked the guy who usually does our landscaping, but he wouldn’t be able to do it for another couple weeks so my parents decided that we would do it ourselves to get it over with. By we I mean they planned to make me and my brother do most of the work. They had a massive pile of mulch dropped off and my mom went to the store and picked up a bunch of different flowers and plants. I was basically bribed to help them with the promise of money after the job was finished, but what I got out of this experience was worth so much more.
On this particular day it was sunny and about 80 degrees out which isn’t exactly ideal weather for mulching. This project also happened to take us about four hours. My brother and I switched off between gathering the mulch in a wheelbarrow and dumping it out in the gardens and spreading the mulch throughout the gardens so everything was even. Those wheelbarrows get a lot heavier than you’d expect, especially when you’re making the trip over and over again around the house. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to mulch around the front of the house and the small garden further out front and then another 1 1/2 hours to mulch around three quarters of the pool inside the fenced area. The remaining hour was spent planting the different plants and flowers my mom had picked up at the store.
When we had finished there was a very noticeable difference from before we started. What had previously just been some dirt and a few flowers was now some beautifully mulched gardens filled with blossoming flowers and healthy plants. Through all of the time, soreness, and sweat I had gotten so much out of this experience. It was so rewarding to walk outside each day and look around and know that I had done this. That all around my house looked so much better because of the work that I had put in. It really makes you appreciate it so much more. Sure we could’ve just waited the couple weeks until the landscaper could come, but I’m glad my parents made me and my brother do the work. Though it was somewhat hard work, I would gladly do it all again in another year or two for them.
Though this was just a small scale project, it gave me a glimpse at how hard it must be for people to run and maintain a farm or larger garden. I gained a lot of new respect for people who do stuff like that on a daily basis.
Written by Ben Pulvino
Pile of mulch similar to the one dropped off in my yard.
Mulched pool area similar to what I did.
Similar flowers to the ones planted in my garden.