To find out about your state of mind as a gardener, take a pen and a piece of paper and write down your honest answers to this special gardening psychological quiz … 😉

1. When it comes to weeding, you are more prone to:

a. Do this once a year, when the weather is nice, there is no wind and the planets are all aligned.

b. Do it once a month, if I have time to spare, and if someone gives me a hand!

c. Do it once a week, every Saturday morning after market, so that the garden is beautiful when I have friends coming for supper.

d. Do it once a day, with my magnifying glass and my teaspoon: I remove anything wrong. There is no weed left …

2. For watering you trust:

a. The universe and global warming. Rain is enough, when there is some.

b. My electronic programmer, with remote app, rain gauge and monthly statistics.

c. My rainwater tank with lifting pump and bypass on city water.

d. I water myself, manually, when I am home, if I have time and if I feel that it would do the garden some good.

3. Your garden is organized:

a. In different spaces according to their use: sunbathing, dining table, reading, ballgame, swimming pool.

b. It is not well organized at all: I settle where I want, nothing is defined, it is a nice mess that I appreciate.

c. I haven’t understood this question.

d. In permaculture fashion: the places used daily closest to the house (swing, vegetable patch, terrace, etc.) and those less demanding towards the bottom of the garden (chickens, orchard, etc.).

4. Various animals:

a. All are welcome, I have two Dobermans who shoot my beddings all year long.

b. Are destroyed with dynamite, or high frequency ultrasounds. My garden must be as clean as my bathroom.

c. Are fed and sheltered in several places: chickadee feeders, hedgehog hut, insects hotel, nothing is missing.

d. I hate humans for a start, so you can imagine that I don’t want to hear about animals.

5. Your garden is useful to:

a. Chill out when I can, get some fresh air and have some good time with my family or friends.

b. Just have a look at it from the window, I don’t like getting my hands dirty.

c. Relax the tension after my workweek: I mow, I weed, I prune, it feels good.

d. Showing off to my friends: it is more a question of social status than anything else.

6. By nature, you are rather:

a. Disappointed.

b. Patient.

c. Neat freak .

d. Joyful.

7. A plant that you planted 6 months ago stagnates a little:

a. I tear it off without further thinking. When I plant something, I want it to grow quickly and nice.

b. I’ll wait another year or two, you have to give it a chance.

c. I replace it with something else, it is probably not happy where it is right now.

d. I read stuff in books or on the internet to try to understand why it is not developing well.

8. When you plant a shrub:

a. I make a hole triple the size of the root ball, as it is well written in every gardening litterature.

b. I make a hole barely larger than the size of the root ball, and that’s all, my soil is good enough.

c. I plant it without removing the plastic container, so I’m sure it won’t become invasive.

d. I rake over the dirt where I want to put the plant and make a hole the size of the root ball.

9. To enrich the soil and help plants grow:

a. I put synthetic fertilizer all over the garden plus anti-moss on the lawn. It’s a shame, they don’t sell Roundup anymore.

b. I don’t do anything special, let the plants cope with the existing situation!

c. I mulch the feet of plants with mold or dead leaves.

d. I grow horse poo in my kitchen, I add crushed horn and dried blood, and I incorporate all this, dancing naked by full moon!

10. Your garden :

a. Stresses you

b. Soothes you.

c. Makes you very happy, even if I must admit that it’s a full-time job!

d. Bores you, I’m disappointed, it’s never the way I want …

Counting points (for each question):

1d = 1 point / 1a =2 points / 1c = 3 points / 1b = 4 points

2a = 1 point / 2b = 2 points / 2d = 3 points / 2c = 4 points

3c = 1 point / 3a = 2 points / 3b ou 3d = 4 points

4a, 4b or 4d = 1 point / 4c = 4 points

5d = 1 point / 5b = 2 points / 5a or 5 c = 3 points

6a = 1 point / 6c = 1 point / 6b = 3 points / 6d = 4 points

7a = 1 point / 7c = 2 points / 7d = 3 points / 7b = 4 points

8c = 1 point / 8a = 2 points / 8b = 3 points / 8d = 4 points

9a = 1 point / 9b = 2 points / 9d = 3 points / 9c = 4 points

10a or 10d = 1 point / 10c ou 10b = 4 points

Result interpretations :

You have between 10 et 18 points:

Well, I must admit, it’s no wonderful score. You are not the king/queen of garden ecstasy, you try too much to be in control and are obsessed with perfection, or on the contrary swimming in a total lack of pragmatism. You are always afraid of doing the wrong thing, or worse you think that nature is not obeying you enough … Relax, stop being disappointed with life: breathe in the smell of dead leaves, listen to the song of birds, and try to see the beauty where it is: in the elements, in small things and in the pleasure of growing things out of your hands. The more curious, relaxed and positive you are, the better the garden will grow, it has been scientifically proven! But if you have first to accept to dirty your hands from time to time …

You have between 19 and 30 points:

It’s not bad at all! You are well on your way to reconnecting with nature. You probably still have to get rid of old, somewhat rigid gardening habits, so trust your intuitions more than the last book you read about azaleas’ pruning, and spend more time observing your garden and find simple and childish pleasures about it. Gardening is not a strenuous set of rules but a form of common sense, an art of following your instincts and understanding nature to help it grow healthily. So trust yourself, take a little risk sometimes, and try your own experiments! You will be surprised with the result …

You have between 31 and 39 points:

Yessss! You have the talent, the confidence, the experience, the curiosity to be happy in your garden. You’re not overdoing it: for you, the garden is associated with beauty and joy above all. Well done, you are one of the happy few who love their garden as it is, with its flaws and qualities, who have confidence in its evolution and who try new things. Therefore, it is successful! Talk about it around you, convince and teach other people, you are precious for humanity and our planet … 😉

You have 40 points:

Impossible, you must have cheated… Maximum is 39 !