Bending back and to the side to reach behind the japanese willow, I found myself as twisted as a Henry Lauder’s Walking stick. I was trying to reach into the back corners of the garden while touching up the mulch. It occurred to me, while not as graceful, some of the silly positions I found myself in resembled yoga poses.
There is the “balance on toe to avoid squashing the sedum” pose. This move allows the gardener to step inside an established garden and mulch behind spirea.
The “crouch careful twist” is used to avoid rose thorns while smoothing shredded bark. Balancing on one arm, repeatedly wave the other arm back and forth across the top of the mulch while avoiding the rose bushes until you inevitably need to stop and get a band-aid.
The most often used pose is the “downward facing gardener”. For this pose, shovel several good sized piles of bark in between plants. Place feet, slightly spread, in front of the echinacea, bend at waist and lunge toward the lungwort. Stretch to reach the piles and smooth. Hold pose until your back gives out.
Anyone heard of something called a rake?
2 Comments
Rake? that’s what hands and feet are for. It is Harry Lauder’s walking stick btw
A rake is what the house takes out of the pot when dealing at a poker table. If the house didn’t rake, a poker table would have little value to the casino. But what’s any of this to do with getting into odd positions while gardening?