Are you a dirty palm gardener?

[_Keith]

When I work in my garden I tend to get dirty, really dirty, head to toe, hat and hair, in my shoes, on my socks and in my ??, well you know. I get dirty.

Some gardeners I know are the Prince Charles types. Outdoors looking clothes, but magically they just seem to keep them spotless. They even garden with a glass of wine sometimes. They just seem to be made of teflon when it comes to dirt.

So, informal pole here. When you work in your garden do you get tend to get dirty, more the Prince Charles types, or somewhere in between?

[ricky]

i have to say i really annoy may friends because i can cut the grass weed the borders and in pale clothes and finish it all with out getting a mark on me like iv never been in the garden but iv got one friend hue cant even go in the garden with out getting covered from head to toe with muck and grass clippings i actually have a harder time staying clean while working the dog she always seems to find the muddiest spots and then jumps at me the little mutt

[ariscott]

Is there another way to do the garden?? Of course, I got filthy!! I had the daggiest clothes for gardening.... Scott's gardening clothes are so dirty... I can't even wash the dirt off them now...

I think it is a part of living on a property too. In a suburban block, it is a lot easier to keep clean.

Regards, Ari

Edited December 7, 2008 by ariscott

[bgl]

Keith,

My work clothes are filthy even after going thru the heavy duty routine in the washing machine. Does that answer your question?

Bo-Göran

[Ken Johnson]

On a good day I go through 3 sets of gardening clothes. At least I used to. Being 51 and spending about 41 of those years gardening I have slowed down to 2 changes on an average day.

Some days the clean up and reward (read this as adult beverages and entertainment) is realy worth the hard work!

[gsn]

PIGPEN here!!!

[BS Man about Palms]

As one might guess, not a lot of experience, GARDENING here. But, when I'm digging, I get dirty, when I'm maintaining the "Container Ranch" I stay mostly clean except for wet shoes, and sometimes dirty knees.

[osideterry]

I'm a mess. I crawl around under palms while weeding, lay in the dirt while pruning, and wipe my hands on my pants and shirt constantly. I sweat a lot too.

I'd like to see someone rip out a section of ice plant and still look like are at Wimbleton.

[Walter John]

I have to clean my fingernails with an air compressor and my gardening clothes are usually washed separately after a long soak in Wivenhoe dam.

[Kim]

I have so many clothes that are stained from working in the garden! Things I should not have been wearing in the garden at all, but I was just going to pull that one weed...!! Two hours later, well, you know the story.

But it depends on what I'm doing. My relatives were kidding me about being "so Martha Stewart" when I installed my mother-in-law's birthday present of some blooming plants for her garden. But that was so simple: dig a few holes, pop them out of the pots and into the ground, add some slow-release fertilizer, tuck in the dirt, and mulch. Not a speck of dirt on my tidy sandals or skirt -- yes, I was wearing a skirt!

But at home, it's another story. I usually end the day with twigs and seed clusters stuck in my hair, a layer of dirt all over my face, stained clothes, mud and plant bits stuck to my feet, black fingernails, and rashes or bloody scratches up my arms and legs from the less friendly plants. A manicure is a hopeless exercise for me. But I do clean up well, really, I do.

[ariscott]

Manicure is only for those who don't garden... I have decided. Besides, I'd rather spend the money on plants.

Regards, Ari

[Gileno Machado]

I guess my mind is the only thing I keep clean while I'm gardening...

[junglegalfla]

I am currently sporting a razer burn down my arm from one of my many broms. I keep my nails short because of the dirt and I am known for getting filthy in my pajamas as I tour the gardens in the mornings!!

[Alberto]

Dirty! dirty! dirty! And my nails are the worsest to clean .... also scratches on arms and hands....

[BS Man about Palms]

Today was a digging day. I removed my Bamboo clump. I figured out how to do it with less work, (it seemed) but I got dirty. I have good medium clay and I know when wet, its like soup, so after digging a trench around the clump, I filled it with water, let it soak then started undercutting the bottom by ramming the shovel underneath to cut the roots. Physically not as much work, but I now have a nasty blister in the palm of my left hand. Then, I used my truck to pull it out since its next to the street! The clump will sit in about a 25 gal tub.

Next step, get it to MattyB's house.

Oh yes, the point of this post. Ramming a shovel into a water filled mud pit gets you dirty.

[Jeff in St Pete]

I get filthy. Just today I was potting up Neoveitchia storckii seedlings and I was covered in dirt. I sweat, I wipe my face and get big smears of dirt all over me, I look awful.

I still have a few of my "banana clothes" that I use when cutting off old banana leaves. The juice from inside a leaf will stain your clothes permanently!

[Kris]

Dear Keith

In my case we work with bare hands & legs and the shirt & pants do tend to tear in most cases.and the soiled clothes never look clean even when washed with best detergents avaliable !

But no complaints since we get good returns of our hard work...the garden seem to look better every day.and its is being complimented by our relatives & neighbours.

So few soiled clothes,do not bother me at all.And their were ocassions when sales men visited the house seeing me in soiled clothers reused to talk to me & insisted he will speak only to the boss of the house...this happens here all the time but who cares..

Love,

Kris

[Mark_NoVA]

3 words for you: Solid Steel Spade. Not only can you ram harder with it, you can use it as a lever without breaking it! Makes controlling bamboo easy. Use it for digging out trees and shrubs, too.

Oh, yeah, as for the original question, I get dirty with my manly steel spade.

Today was a digging day. I removed my Bamboo clump. I figured out how to do it with less work, (it seemed) but I got dirty. I have good medium clay and I know when wet, its like soup, so after digging a trench around the clump, I filled it with water, let it soak then started undercutting the bottom by ramming the shovel underneath to cut the roots. Physically not as much work, but I now have a nasty blister in the palm of my left hand. Then, I used my truck to pull it out since its next to the street! The clump will sit in about a 25 gal tub.

Next step, get it to MattyB's house.

Oh yes, the point of this post. Ramming a shovel into a water filled mud pit gets you dirty.

[DoomsDave]

I have pulled weeds in whites, though I usually get pretty dirty.

But that's okay, because soil just washes off.

Compared to the real chemical filth you get, say, working on a car, and that's nothing . . . .

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

I get plenty dirty. I have two sets clothes, one that I wear to work outside and then one set for everything else. If I wear the "everything else" clothes once in the garden, they are fit for nothing else. The worst are my socks where they meet the top of my boots or sneakers.

Dirt washes out for the most part, but plant sap, blood from the Copernicias and oil from cleaning tools stains forever.

Wal, I'll have to remember that air compressor trick.

Jerry

PS. I do have some nice new polo type shirts for the garden now. They are from political campaigns that might as well get some use!

[Kool]

nothing better on a summer day, to do some bare-feet and topless gardening.... and get dirty!

Although I think I never had a day I needed 3 set of cloths.... I prefer wearing darker cloths since stains are harder to notice...

and last but not least my wash machine worst nightmare is ANY FICUS

[freakypalmguy]

My wife is tired of me ruining all my clothes. It's usually too late when I realize I'm in something I should not be in, so I'll run in change into some grubbies and hide the damage deep in the laundry basket. Here is a shot of me on a typical day.

[FRITO]

I get dirty, I have more gardening clothes than normal clothes probably. I like my white cotton shirts with red clay stains on them, its like a badge of honor!

I also have a bad habit of jumping in and sart yard work when in my "good clothes"

[_Keith]

Wow, I feel much better now.

But I still envy those gardeners who can go out for an hour in their good clothes, get something done, and come back in spotless. Only one admitted to it here, but I do know some others.

If I so much as look at a garden photograph, I will get something on my clothes. And it will probably leave a stain, too.

I have vowed this year to get better at staying clean. Not sure why, other than I am tired of ruining good clothes, cause I can't be in a garden without doing something, no matter how small I think it might be. Of course the job is always bigger than I think it might be. My wife says that is just a man thing.

[John Case]

I'm so bad I leave my plants dirty too!

[Kim]

I get dirty, I have more gardening clothes than normal clothes probably. I like my white cotton shirts with red clay stains on them, its like a badge of honor!

Your comment reminded me of this song about dirt:

[Neofolis]

I've always been a filth magnet. I don't have to go anywhere near any dirt and I can still get covered. I think I may actually sweat mud. At least now I spend a reasonable amount of time in the garden, however small it may be, I have an excuse for being dirty.

[SubTropicRay]

My nails look like I work on cars instead of palms. Gloves are for wimps.

[palmmermaid]

I get really dirty working in the garden. I try and wear my old clothes but sometimes I get distracted and work in my good clothes. I've been known to muck my stalls in good clothes. And I sweat a lot. None of that dewey stuff for me. I sweat - buckets! I wipe my face and smear dirt all over my face. I wipe my face on my shirt, my hands on my butt, and just get filthy. But I love it.

I did find this detergent made for athletes and their clothes and it gets the swaet out of my clothes. I save them up until I have at least half a load.

I get my nails done every 2 weeks but keep them short. I always wear gloves when working in the garden. Keeps my hands clean and my nails nice. I am not a girly girl but I do like my nails to look nice. Bad form to show up in a meeting with the president of a big company with dirt under my nails!

[Bob Johnson]

Absolutely filthy, filthy, filthy!!! I have ratty looking cloths and shoes that I use just for gardening that will never come clean. Hands and feet - forget it! I don't know how the dirt gets past the shoes and socks to get my feet so dirty, but soaking them is the only way that I can get them clean.

I think the only way you can stay clean is if you are wealthy enough to hire all of your help and you just supervise.

[hulagalnz9]

I guess my mind is the only thing I keep clean while I'm gardening...

LOL!! uh huh...sure Gileno...we believe you.

[sonoranfans]

I think prince charles would struggle to stay clean with wet orange clay. Any digging at all and Im tracking clay everywhere(but not inside, or else). Alot of digging with a pick axe and its in the hair, all over. Staying clean is not an objective, it typically compromises the real objective, getting things planted. Trimming isnt nearly as bad, trimming most palms is a breeze.

[joe_OC]

My wife is tired of me ruining all my clothes. It's usually too late when I realize I'm in something I should not be in, so I'll run in change into some grubbies and hide the damage deep in the laundry basket. Here is a shot of me on a typical day.

hahaha...that sounds like me. I start out just "looking" at the yard and magically, a shovel or some other gardening tool ends up in my hands. Then I realize that I am not in my garden grubbies and see dirt/grass stains on my "nice" clothes. Getting dirty tells me that I accomplished to real work...

[BS Man about Palms]

3 words for you: Solid Steel Spade. Not only can you ram harder with it, you can use it as a lever without breaking it! Makes controlling bamboo easy. Use it for digging out trees and shrubs, too.

Oh, yeah, as for the original question, I get dirty with my manly steel spade.

Today was a digging day. I removed my Bamboo clump. I figured out how to do it with less work, (it seemed) but I got dirty. I have good medium clay and I know when wet, its like soup, so after digging a trench around the clump, I filled it with water, let it soak then started undercutting the bottom by ramming the shovel underneath to cut the roots. Physically not as much work, but I now have a nasty blister in the palm of my left hand. Then, I used my truck to pull it out since its next to the street! The clump will sit in about a 25 gal tub.

Next step, get it to MattyB's house.

Oh yes, the point of this post. Ramming a shovel into a water filled mud pit gets you dirty.

Yeah Mark, several times I stopped, stared, and thought it would go alot better with a spade or digging bar.....

[CromulentKevin]

Luckily, I don't own "good" clothes, so I never have to worry about ruining anything. I get so dirty when I'm gardening that when I blow my nose hours later AFTER having taken a shower, dirt comes out in the kleenex. . .that actually happens. . .except by kleenex I mean my shirt.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

This was a clean day.... Planting is always cleaner than removal. Removal is always how I get dirty... dirty like everyone else and the brown boogers to boot!