Challenges...

Are you a gardener?

the joy of watching things grow

Only to be trampled…


I had a recent conversation with a fellow gardener who reminded me that you’re either a gardener or a dog lover, and if you’re devoted to your garden, you don’t own a dog. Well, I happen to be a terrier lover and a gardener. When we moved to our current home I begged for a terrier and we soon rescued a delightful Australian terrier with short legs who quickly adapted to the fences placed around our landscape. He would occasionally dig but never to any great detriment and we all spent many great hours outdoors in blissful coexistence.

When we lost our four legged companion to cancer, we vowed not to replace him, but in donating items to our local shelter we were captivated by this little white terrier. Bella is an engaging addition to our routine but she’s a Jack Russell and a true definition of a terror in the garden. I should have known we’d be in for an adventure, no sooner than I introduced her to her new yard, she looked up at me, took a vertical leap to the envy of many and dove into the tiger lilies emerging with a toad egger to share her prize with me! I haven’t seen the toad much, but after some hard lessons, we are resigned to protect any new transplants with generous applications of chicken wire to insulate them from the ravage of her daily quest for the resident field mouse.

We used to place pots for their esthetic use in the garden, now they serve to temporally divert Bella’s devoted pursuit of whatever sound captures her complete attention at the moment. Her daily trash talk with the neighbor dogs over who’s really in charge, keeps her nails in shape but walk may never fully recover.