Stop what you’re doing, move away from the keyboard and head outside into your garden. Can you hear it? Close your eyes if you need to focus and let the garden surround your senses. What’s it saying to you?

Obviously it depends on what season you’re experiencing right now. But if you’re in the middle of spring/ summer and you can’t hear anything then your garden could be telling you a whole lot. Absence of sound in the garden during the peak growing periods is a sure indicator that your yard isn’t as healthy as it should be.

So what should you be hearing? For starters; birds, bees, cicadas, crickets, frogs should all be chorusing the bounty of warm weather. Heck, you should almost hear the corn growing individual kernels if you listen hard enough.

Dry leaves rustling against a gentle breeze may indicate that you’re not watering your plants enough and grass leaves scraping against a sandy soil may be telling you that a layer of mulch is needed – soon.

The void of children sounds might warrant an inspection of the gaming console room and finding outdoor activities for the young’uns may become a priorirty for today’s TO-DO list.

If you can hear the lawn moving then the next sound might be the starting of the mower but if the compost heap is making sounds then it’s a good indicator that it needs turning first.

While we often advocate “taking time to smell the roses” as a way to enjoy our yards, taking some time to LISTEN to your garden may prove a helpful option in keeping it healthy. What sounds are you hearing in your garden today?