There's no such thing as a garden failure

Even people with the greenest thumbs have failures in the garden. They just don't look at them that way. They look at them as lessons or opportunities for improvement. Maybe they could have been more attentive. Maybe they missed some obvious issues. Maybe they neglected their duties in lieu of summer fun. So, instead of sitting around feeling inadequate, they take those “mistakes” and turn them into next year's success stories.

How my own personal “failure” led to triumph:

A few years back, toward the end of gardening season, I suffered a severe attack of what I thought was rheumatoid arthritis. It was actually Rheumatoid combined with Lupus, a double whammy. I was simply incapable of doing anything in the garden or around the house. As I watched my formerly well tended garden go to pieces, I made a vow to myself.

These health issues will not stop me from my favorite hobby again. I vowed to use that fall and winter to get myself healthy and get some treatment options in place. So, that year's garden “failure” not only brought my garden a better future, it brought me a healthier one. From that point on, I stopped looking at garden glitches as failures.

Turning the tables on gardening errors

Maybe you kept forgetting to water. A positive approach would be to set up a drip watering system. No matter what your gardening woes entail, you can find a solution to remedy most of them. Why not concentrate on the solution, rather than the problem? It works in other facets of your life. It can work in the garden as well. Failure is simply a call to action. Use it!

What if you simply can't find a solution?

We're not perfect beings, are we? There's bound to be some things that thrive under your care, just as there are others you simply can't get the hang of. Rather than concentrating on your limitations, why not concentrate on your strengths? Not everything in your garden will be a proven winner. That doesn't mean you're a failure. Focus on your successes instead of bemoaning your failures.

Make a list of your regrets.

When planning next year's garden, go over that list. Is it really all that important that your garden include those things that refuse to grow for you? If not, scratch them off the list. On the other hand, if you still want to include them, do some research. Maybe you missed an important factor. Failure is just a learning opportunity in disguise.

Taking action is always better than sulking.

Why are you wasting all that good energy crying over your “failed” garden? There's always next year. Fall and winter give you an excellent opportunity to educate yourself, make changes and plan for better gardening days to come. In fact, that's what the change of seasons is all about. So stop worrying about those supposed “failures.” Learn from them instead. Take positive action. Educate yourself to improve your skills. You'll be better off and so will your garden.