I finally got outside last week to start weeding the garden. I’m the sole gardener and I have a lot to do. Admittedly, it’s self-inflicted. Every year I tell myself, “This is it – you can’t create anymore flower beds.” But when I’m out there weeding, my imagination runs away with me and next thing I know, I’m renting a rototiller. My husband may leave my photo at Home Depot and tell them, “If you see this woman and she wants to rent a power tool, don’t let her.”

I really don’t think I will expand this year, though. I have much planting to do to fill in the beds I created last year in my backyard. It started with a simple rock garden to pretty up the corner of the yard so I had something nice to look at when I sit on my patio. Now I don’t even recognize it as the yard my daughters frolicked in as children. My Florida friend always urged me to create a mini-arboretum back there, but I thought it was beyond my capabilities. Apparently, it’s not and I have a lot of catching up to do.

The key, in my opinion, when expanding a garden is to plant a lot of shrubs and trees of many varieties. One because it gives the garden interest year around, but also because eventually it will be full enough that the weeding will be minimal. But there is a danger in it, too. My front yard is a good 17 years old and I’m looking at it with spring eyes feeling like it needs to be refreshed up.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard about gardening came from Marianne Binetti who also writes for this paper. She said, “Plants are not members of the family. If they’re not working for you, you can remove them.” If only people were that easy to handle. I don’t know if it was because I got a Sawzall for Christmas, but as I walked through my front yard, I spied several culprits that needed to go. I started trimming one and before I knew it, it was a fragment of its former self. Now I need to decide if I should finish it off. Though it may decide it’s had enough and die on its own.

Out in the backyard I was on my hands and knees weeding one of my after-thought beds (I have the rototiller for another hour, I could put a bed here, too), and the dog came bounding out of the house. I have the yard separated by a long gate to keep the poop away from where people trod. The dog’s space was right next to where I was weeding as I watched her throw herself into the lawn and roll and scratch her back with glee. I felt her delight on that beautiful day. If I did not have opposable thumbs, I would have done the same thing rather than plunge my hands into the dirt.

My next thought was, “Someday when the dog is gone, I’m going to remove this gate and start planting in that area.” I was appalled at my own thought, because unlike plants, the dog is a part of the family. However, she’s really old and probably only has a couple years left in her and I am done acquiring animals. I think so many years as a wife and mother has hardened me to more beings who need my attention. I did ask for the Sawzall, after all.

Perhaps everyone should take heed. Mama’s got power tools of her own and isn’t afraid to use them.

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing on her website livingwithgleigh.com, follow her on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh by Gretchen Leigh”or on Twitter @livewithgleigh. Her column is also available at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Life section.