DIY Network

Gardening Has Its Distractions

Master gardener Joe Lamp'l, host of Fresh from the Garden, discusses how gardening can make one lose focus ... but in a good way.

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Joe Lamp'l loves to write but couldn't find the perfect spot, so a friend offered him their basement office-- complete with a large desk; wireless computer access; a quiet, comfortable setting; and a great view of a wooded backyard garden.

Writing about gardening has distractions all its own

By Joe Lamp'l

I didn't realize how much writing is involved when you garden for a living. I write something for someone just about every day, even when it's only a contribution to my own blog on my own website. When you write long enough, it becomes a challenge to come up with topics that are fresh and different. Thankfully, I love to write, although I never knew it in high school and I never cared in college.

Another writing challenge deals with focus. I've been in search for quite some time for a quiet, distraction-free place to hide out as I work on a book. I thought I'd found the perfect place; friends offered their basement office and a key to the back door, allowing me unlimited access when I needed to hunker down and get serious.

The setup was perfect--large desk; wireless computer access; a quiet, comfortable setting, and a great view to their wooded backyard garden. That, alas, was the problem. In their effort to provide good light and a source of inspiration, they placed my desk directly in front of the large windows facing a very beautiful and very much alive winter garden. I could not believe how much activity was taking place just beyond the glass.

Scores of cardinals, chickadees and wrens flittered amongst the branches. A pair of hawks sailed overhead, seemingly unbothered by a flock of very vocal and antagonistic crows. Squirrels and chipmunks played close by, as if inviting me to join them. Early spring bulbs were starting to push through the rich humus, under the canopy of a witch hazel, still clinging to its strap-like petals of orange and red.

The sight was indeed inspirational, but it made it far too difficult to lower my gaze from the window to the blank paper before me. Who would have thought having the ideal place to write about gardening would become so distracting ... because of the garden.

I already know if I continue to attempt to tough this out, working through the pain, it only will continue getting worse. You see, this is January. Nothing much is supposed to be going on in the garden this time of year. It should be at rest. But I know this is not so. Gardens are alive and beautiful anytime of year.

With a garden so alive in January, I'll be doomed by March. What are my choices now? How can I write about gardens from a windowless room? Yet it may be the only way I can envision meeting the publisher's deadlines.

My quest for a distraction-free zone continues. For now, the best opportunity to write is early in the morning, while it is still dark outside and the family sleeps. The coffee is fresh and hot. I am rested and, for now, not distracted by the beauty that will be revealed just beyond these windows in another hour or so.

(Joe Lamp'l, a master gardener, hosts DIY's Fresh from the Garden as well as a gardening radio show. For more information, visit www.joegardener.com.)

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