Gardening's Natural Work-Life Balance

Job descriptions sometimes boast about organizations’ “good work-life balance”. Nice to know, for sure—“You can actually live while you do this work.” But gardening work does not require this billing. Gardening work offers a natural work-life balance, especially if done in a location with four divergent seasons. There is downtime, and that downtime is lovely.

For me, the busiest times in the garden are spring and fall. And although you might disagree, I would peg fall as the busier of the two. Fall is full of cutting back, pruning and thinning certain trees and shrubs, cleaning up, and planting bulbs with frozen fingers. Spring, though filled with more cleaning up, new planting, and pruning, seems a little less frenzied. Or perhaps it is because spring is so pleasantly anticipatory that it seems easier: “If I do all this, my reward will be healthy greenery and bountiful blooms in no time.” And in no time, of course, summer comes around with its requirements of watering and feeding and grooming gardens, but it also allows for ample time to relax and reap the benefits of what was done in the past season.

So, summer balances the work of spring. But what balances the efforts of fall? I find the best balance to be winter, which many of us “four season” folks think of as dismal, gray, and good for little aside from skiing and skating. But winter can be glorious in the garden, full of relaxation and healthy time off, but also full of wondrous sights and a few fun tasks. My favorites: Looking carefully at branches and overall tree and shrub shapes, reading about pruning and when it is best done to each type of tree or shrub, and then pruning certain ones of these with the knowledge of how forgiving winter dormancy can be.

For the relaxation and bookworm time—a time that can be spent indoors with loved ones, not feeling rushed at all—I find myself looking up instructions on pruning. I do this same thing each and every year. I am confident I can do the pruning of my apple trees in winter, but I leave other trees and shrubs alone until I refresh my memory on the proper timing of pruning for them. Which timing will result in healthy new growth? Which timing will result in the unintentional snipping of buds and lessening of flowering and fruiting capacity for the next season? Which timing might allow a fungus or disease to creep into the wood? And which timing will make pruning tolerable for me, with ground that I can traverse easily as I get to my trees and shrubs, no frostbite, and enough energy to get the task done?

Winter pruning time, which is advisable for some trees and shrubs but not all, can be done as a peaceful and solitary endeavor or as a fun family time. For the latter, children can pile up and lug off cut branches. Family members can inspect pruning efforts from a distance to advise the gardener who holds the pruning shears to “move left, move right, cut that vertical branch…."

Work-life balance in gardening… It is natural and built-in by virtue of the changing seasons. In winter, inspecting, reading and researching, and pruning require some effort, but it is veritable downtime for gardeners who work so feverishly during the seasons that sandwich winter between them. Busy, work-weary gardeners step out of fall to enjoy holidays, candlelight, and indoor relaxation. When they are ready to step out into winter days in the garden, they can continue to relax to a great extent, watching and wondering how things will shape up. Then, before busy spring, they can engage in pruning here and there, for the trees and shrubs that are shaped or thinned out best in winter—nothing too much, nothing too taxing—either on their own or with others.

It is a balanced work-year for gardeners, with both bustling times and downtime... with both energetic growth and rejuvenating dormancy for plants and gardeners alike.