Lynn McCrossan: ‘I’ll be heading to Dobbies with my 20% off voucher’

WITH THE drawn-out wintry season we have all been enduring, it has been an effort to get myself into the garden and try and deal with whatever I should be dealing with out there.

So far I’ve managed to remove the leaves gathered in corners that should have been dealt with pre-Christmas and hoiked out a few weeds. (I knew they were weeds because they were growing between paving stones. I’m pretty safe identifying those ones, it’s the earth-based ones I struggle with. That whole ‘could it be a plant or is it a weed?’ indecision is always lurking.)

Not counting the failed missions where all I achieved was hugging a mug of coffee in near frost-bitten hands, basically that’s it. The sum total of my gardening to date in 2013, despite this being the year I resolved to spruce up our outside space. It’s not what I’d call a great start.

Our back door is a sorry state of dried-up plants I encouraged the kids to grow last year. The solar lights draped in the pear tree (they were much shorter than I had imagined so a branch is all they stretch to), have sprung back to life but appear to have switched from gentle mode to a frantic rave function I can’t turn off. So, it’s safe to say I’ll be heading to Dobbies clutching my 20% off voucher at the first opportunity. I might even treat my Dad to a coffee and a cake out there, although there will be gardening strings attached to that offer.