Wednesday 21 November 2018

The Little Red Wheelbarrow

I have potted up a small succulent garden in the little red wheelbarrow my once-small boy would push happily around full of mulch, soil, weeds and the occasional worm. The memory of him, hands in his tiny gardening gloves, pushing his little barrow around our lawn and from garden bed to garden bed, "helping", warms my heart so. Spending time outside together, in our garden, was a favourite part of our days at home together.

 A succulent garden in a child's wheelbarrow.

As it holds such lovely memories, I kept his little red barrow. I have grown flowers in it previously but recently decided I wanted to make a little feature of it, up in the new garden bed we've been creating where our son's old sandpit used to be. So, with extra drainage holes drilled into the bottom, some potting mix with a little leftover sandpit sand mixed in, and some small succulents gifted to me by a good friend, I planted it up.

Gifted succulents potted up  in the wheelbarrow.

One of the succulents has a pretty flower spike. I love the red in the buds as it matches the red of the wheelbarrow. A couple of the other succulents have tinges of red and pink too which I think, once they grow and fill up the space, will look lovely with the fire-engine red of the wheelbarrow.


Flower buds on one of the succulents.


While he has apparently "lost" his enthusiasm for gardening, in favour of hitting cricket balls and kicking footballs, I still point out things of interest in the garden to my boy. A certain plant flowering or going to seed, the scent of an open bud or a herb, a bird splashing in the birdbath or another creature making its home here. While he may not push his little red wheelbarrow anymore, I know the time I spent with him in the garden planted much within him. 

A little red wheelbarrow that holds succulents as well as memories. I am very glad I kept it and that I will see it often in the garden. 

What memories have you got planted in your garden?

Meg




29 comments:

  1. That's a really lovely idea and a wonderful way to preserve those memories. I'm hoping our memories will be from two little trees we are growing from an acorn and a conker we picked up on our Autumn walks a couple of years ago. X

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    1. How lovely to be growing trees like this, Jules. May they grow strong and tall! Meg:)

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    1. Thanks, Nil. I love that I see his wheelbarrow in the spot where his sandpit used to be. We spent hours and hours happily in the garden. It's nice to pay homage to that. Meg:)

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  3. What a great idea...some things you just can't give away.

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    1. Yes, there are some things that are worth keeping. MegXx

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  4. That looks so pretty, Meg. Your son may develop more of an interest in gardening when he gets older. I know I did. I have Cinderella pumpkins growing in my garden right now. They bring back memories of fairy tales as a child.

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    1. How lovely be growing fairytale pumpkins, Stephenie! Meg:)

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  5. Sweet memories, and a way to keep them close to mind in a new way.

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    1. Very sweet memories, Kath. I know I'll think of my very young boy whenever I see that wheelbarrow. Meg:)

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  6. Very sweet indeed :-)
    We buried a time capsule somewhere but I have a feeling it was lost when we had some building work done. I do have a brick of a former wall, it shows parts of a large painting the kids and I made before the builders knocked it down. x

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    1. Part of a painting is a special keepsake, Christina. You never know, that time capsule may surface again one day too. Meg:)

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  7. Wonderful post and a lovely use of his wheelbarrow, I understand your sadness at his change of passion from the garden to the cricket ball, I too have spent hours in my garden with my grandsons, only to find they grow and lose interest in helping plant and grow. But each time you look at the planted wheelbarrow is will bring memories of a younger little man and the fun you had together. PS, how is your bowling skills?

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    1. My son loves bowling, Marlene. I am more of a batter myself:D
      I think the time I spent with my son in the garden will always be there and perhaps, when he is older, he'll return to gardening. Meg:)

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  8. Sniff! Having my own no-longer-little boy, this makes my heart smile. What a lovely way to keep those sweet memories strong. I love the succulents, too, they're such pretty plants. :)

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    1. I have a growing passion for succulents, Stephanie. They are a great choice for this little wheelbarrow because the garden bed I'm making is in an area that gets some afternoon sun. Where I live, that spot gets very hot in Summer.

      My boy is definitely no-longer-little anymore. It's quite the shock when they wake up one day and are dangerously close to being taller than you without standing on their tiptoes!! Meg:)

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  9. What a lovely idea - thank you. We've got memories tied up in lots of our plants - pinks and lily of the valley from my partner's Mum's garden; roses from cuttings from my grandmother's and my partner's grandfather's and lavender and geraniums from my own parents space - all raise a fond smile and give us a chance to remember with love. T

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    1. Your garden sounds beautiful and fragrant and full of memories. How wonderful! I have this little red wheelbarrow now, a bright orange hibiscus my son chose and planted when he was 3years old, daylilies and canna lily from my mother-in-law an and many plants that have grown from the cuttings and gifts of friends. In my garden, it all comes together in a hodgepodge cottage-y tangle but I do love it so and I love that I can wander around and see plants that make me think of the ones I love and cherish. MegXx

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  10. I love your wee wheelbarrow of memories. I have a little red wheelbarrow too, minus it's handles, with a potted geranium sitting in it....not a fond reminder of childhood, but a lucky find on the footpath during a council clean up 😊 Because I've moved many times since my kids were little, and this particular garden is new to me, the only memory I have in it is a very worn dragon statue, it's paint worn off and with many bumps and chips, that my daughter bought me with her first paypacket from an after school job.....a wonderful 30 year old dragon!

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    1. That sounds like a very special dragon, Nanette. Isn't it wonderful too what you can find on the footpath and make it use of.

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  11. Oh yes, the kiddy wheelbarrows. Mine had several of those too. Unfortunately the way they make them, the kids grew out of them very quickly. Because when they got too tall, the front wheel kept digging into the ground - so they got increasingly frustrated, trying to push them, lol. Still, they felt like grown-ups for a wee bit, pushing their little barrows next to ours.

    The memories planted in our garden are chickens, pets, a bit of blood (our own, lol) kids climbing absolutely everything, the making potions phase our daughter got into with plants, playing dinosaurs in potted container gardens, being stung by paper wasps, surprised by snakes, feeling heartbroken by dying plants, making friends with kangaroos, and feeling like anything is possible in a garden.

    I love your little barrow of memories too.

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    1. I love that a garden can feel full of possibilities too, Chris. There are always those plants that grow in spite of neglect, that thrive with care and those that turn up their heels, wither and die too. Might be a few of the latter in my garden over Summer!! You describe such good memories, I have as boy who we describe as our "mountain goat" because he loves to climb too!! And, there is another lovely young fellow I know who makes all kinds of potions from the plants and flowers of his family garden. When I visit, I am regularly presented with a little bottle of his latest concoction. Makes me smile! Meg🌼

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  12. That is completely adorable, Meg! I am about to plant out my girls' leaky old little watering cans from their childhoods:)

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    1. I must dig out my boy's old watering cans too, Jo ... they will make great planters! Thanks for the idea!!

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  13. That is such a lovely thing to do. I bet every time you see it you smile.. I certainly would

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    1. I do smile when I see it, Cherie. It's right at the top of the garden so I pass it often. I could always wheel it to other spots in the garden too. Meg 🙂

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  14. Hello Meg, so sorry I haven't commented in a while, I realised that your blog was another of those I couldn't leave comments on, not even anonymously! I've finally fixed the problem, it had to do with an upgrade where the new upgrade blocked cookies...grrrr!

    Anyway, love the wheelbarrow!!

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    1. I am glad you have found the problem, Cheryl. I haven't had much go wrong with my blog but, if it did, I wouldn't know where to start to fix it...I am not very technologically minded!!

      Meg Xx

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    2. I googled it’s amazing what you can fix if you google, even if you don’t understand it!! 🤣

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