SecretBlog: Go on - you know you do it too ...

The seven deadly sins of gardening. And I confess, I confess - I’m guilty of every single one. But go on - hand on heart can you really say you don’t do any of them?

1. Thou shalt not pull the seed pods of the heads of newly sprouted seedlings. Oh, but they look so trapped. Surely they’ll never get them off without help. Yes, I know that last time both the seed leaves came off with it. And the time before, and the time before that. But I was only trying to help. Surely, this time if I’m gentle …

2. Thou shalt not dig up your bulbs and tubers to see if they’re doing anything yet. But they’ve been in there so long and there’s no sign of anything. I won’t disturb them, promise. Yes, all right, I did rip the roots off that Jerusalem artichoke last time, but this time I’ll go really, really carefully…

3. Thou shalt not forget to go back and empty the surplus water out of the saucers under the containers. Yes I admit it - there’s no excuse for this one. I just got distracted. OK, OK - I just got distracted again. But it might be all right this time. I mean it’s a big pot and it will only be the bottom couple of inches which are soggy. Maybe the roots haven’t got down that far yet…

4. Thou shalt not forget to label your seed pots - not only with names, but above all with colours. Now, I resent that. You know that I labelled every single pot in the last batch. What do you mean, going back half an hour later and labelling things Mystery and ???? doesn’t count? And as for colours - well, maybe I like that bright pink zinnia in the middle of the marigolds…

5. Thou shalt not throw in another couple of handfuls of fertiliser just to “finish off the box”. What? The Four O’Clocks you mean? But look how healthy they are. Look at that foliage. Have you ever seen them come up so lush and green? They’re a delight to see. Oh .. right -no, I suppose they’re aren’t many flowers this year …

6. Thou shalt not try and grow plants which you know perfectly well won’t survive in your garden. You’re not going to let me forget those hostas are you? Oh - it was the Himalayan geranium you were thinking of. Well, you never know - we might have had a cool summer that year…

7. Thou shalt not - but wait a moment, it can’t just be me. Go on, you know you do it too. So confess. What’s your seventh “deadly gardening sin” ?