Here is a simple list of garden chores with fun illustrations in AZ order.

It is not intended to be a Wiki style list of every gardening activity known to man.  Nor one of those reference books that garden centres charge a small fortune for.

The drawings offer a little brightness and humour in a collection of things we do in the garden,  All year round there are jobs to do and a garden to enjoy as the hard work is being done.
 
Gardening offers a chance to reconnect with Nature and our earlier selves.  A natural way to be - tilling the soil, nurturing crops and flowers - having respect for the planet, our own back yard and ourselves.

The keeping of allotments goes back into history when land was made available for the common people.  

It has ebbed and flowed in popularity - perhaps at its peak during wartime when home grown crops were essential.  The "Dig for Victory" slogan.  

​During the Seventies when self-sufficiency was all the rage until people discovered how hard and back-breaking it was.

An allotment is a hobby that can give years of pleasure plus the satisfaction of home grown food.

Beekeeping is a cool thing to do.  Green society, future of the planet, ecology and honey of course.  

Bees are nice creatures.  If they didn't exist plants could not pollinate.  That would mean no food and the end of our world.

Apiarist is another name for beekeepers and what they do is called apiculture.

​They get a buzz from it.

 For clearing garden rubbish fast.  A bonfire is a fun way of feeling that you are doing something in the garden, getting warm and enjoying the flames of the fire. 

​Always take proper safety precautions - not too near other structures, watch out for glowing embers blowing off in the wind and never leave unattended.

​Warn neighbours so they can shut windows, keep pets indoors and maybe put some foil-wrapped potatoes in the fire to cook.

These days you also need to check local regulations as to whether having a bonfire is permissible.

There is an art to composting.  You can buy books on it, special bins, nutrients.  You can bore holes in it, toss it, line it with newspaper.  Get the right nitrogen mix and spend hours on it.

Or you can allocate a small part of the garden and dump everything compostable.  That's living material.  Wood, earth, newspaper, grass cuttings.  A nice mix of different ingredients and some friendly worms will make good compost.  Keep it dry and leave it alone.

In the pic below a keen composter is adding grass cuttings to his pile.  The bird watches with interest because a compost heap is full of tiny life including insects and worms.

​Browns and greens is the key.  Browns for carbon, greens for nitrogen.  Cardboard and grass for example.

A once or twice a year job unless you are a topiarist.  A hair cut for the hedges and a chance to use that expensive hedge trimmer. 

​Have a drink AFTER - not before - and the exercise should be done in reasonable safety.

The hedge will briefly look a whole lot better and the birds will return in time.  Not to be done while nesting is taking place.

This is one of the gardening jobs that it is worth thinking about paying someone to do.  

They will have equipment, insurance cover and should take the cuttings away with them when they leave.

Many people keep a chicken or two in their back yard.  

That means fresh eggs and a connection with Mother Nature for kids.

The minimum requirement seems to be several chickens and maybe a rooster or cockerel.  Some early morning noise and regular chicken feed.

Watch out for foxes and love those chickens!

Mowing is a mostly relaxing garden task.  Wander around pushing the mower, it should be fairly straightforward and simple to do.  Especially if you regularly mow the lawn and keep on top of weeds and other minor maintenance.

On a sunny day for an hour or so there may be no other thoughts to disturb the peaceful mowing process.  This is especially true if you have a loud mower which helps to drown out other domestic noise such as conversation or further garden instructions.

Dispose of grass cuttings in a garden recycle bin or leave them to mulch back into the lawn.  Composting grass is a fine way to dispose of trimmings.  Remember to add lots of browns with your greens.

Mushrooms are magic.  A plant like no other, almost an alien species.  Spores in the ground deliver a gift from Nature to the forager.

​Not all mushrooms are edible and some are a lot more fun than others.

Orchids are a spectacular plant species with a huge variety of forms, shapes and colours.  

​The orchid hobbyists (orchidologists) also come in a large variety of shapes and forms.

Specialising in a single plant species helps to focus on acquiring the in-depth knowledge that is necessary to have those orchids looking at their best.

Judging by the fine words of the world's governments we will soon be planting trillions of trees to rebuild the lungs of the planet.

While waiting for them to deliver on promises it is possible to plant a tree of your own.

Good for the planet, your garden and wildlife.

Not so good for your back but that is the lot of the gardener.  Hard work.

When the baby plants are ready to go into their first real pots it is time for the process known as potting up.  

All you need is a bag of potting compost, some pots, a tray of baby or plug plants and a quiet afternoon.

​Potting up is one of the key stages in a gardeners year, bringing on those young plants to the next stage of growth.

​The plants may be grown from seeds or bought as plug plants from a garden centre or online retailer for home delivery.

There are dangers with pruning.  An amateur gardener equipped with a nifty set of clippers can spend a pleasant afternoon decimating the garden.  

​Cutting the wrong thing at the wrong time or pruning too severely can lead to marital problems which may last longer than the flowering season.

​Little and often is the secret.

You can use the rake for other jobs like lawn care.  For the most part it is used for the annual tidy up when trees decide to drop their leaves and get ready for winter.

The colours of Autumn are beautiful and it is not so bad a job raking up the fallen leaves into a tidy pile.  A little exercise and an excuse to be out doing something in the garden.

​A fairly simple job that has an instant visual effect - you can see the paths and borders again!

The time of renewal and promise of brighter days ahead.  When the first shoots and buds appear, and the garden seems to burst into life.

The start of a new season for work for sure, but one of the best times of year as nature wakens from its winter slumber.

The picture below shows spring-cleaning - a play on words where the man is sweeping up springs.  

Virtually all garden activities end with sweeping away the debris from fallen leaves, pruning, grass cutting and weed-pulling.

Unless you have one of those fancy garden vacuums which suck all the debris into a handy container for emptying.  

​That's what the adverts say.  They don't tell you how heavy or noisy the things are.  You are carrying round a vacuum cleaner on your shoulder. 

The art of clipping hedges and shrubs into shapes.  A sphere is an easy shape to start with.

The range of shapes that the expert topiarist can create is impressive and can be seen at country house open days, Botanical gardens and other places.

In the picture a standard topiary example is shown.

Although it looks fairly easy, trimming any shrub into a perfect circle or square is tricky.

​The secret is little, often and patience as the results slowly take shape.

Watering the garden plants is a straightforward chore that children and husbands can generally be entrusted to do.

Fill a watering can - ideally with collected rainwater - and water plants that require it.

The way to avoid constant watering is to plant carefully according to the needs of the plant. Don't try to grow water loving plants in arid conditions for example.  

Lawns are good for weeding because it is easier to tell the difference between a weed and your partner's prized rare species.  

​There is less chance of accidentally pulling up the wrong plant.

This means hand-weeding rather than using chemicals which kill the weeds, lawn, bees and next door's cat. 

"One years seed - seven years weed" is a handy expression to remember if tempted to avoid the weeding task.

There are lots more images to create for this gardening page.  Just like a real garden the work will never stop.  There are hundreds of jobs to do and each season brings a new series of tasks.

That is all part of the fun of being a gardener or landscape designer.

​Thanks for visiting.