Marie Kondo Got a Lesson in Gardening During “Sparking Joy” — Here’s What She Learned

Marie Kondo is the queen of tidying, as proven through her many books — most notably “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” — and her Netflix show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.”  And now, Kondo’s second Netflix series titled “Sparking Joy” is all about tidying spaces outside a home — including gardens.

In the first episode of “Sparking Joy,” which is debuted on Aug. 31, Kondo helps a father-son duo Jimmy and Logan transform their gardening business through the power of organizing. But along the way, Kondo mentions that she has a desire to be better at gardening — and Jimmy and Logan jump right in to help her after all she had done for them.

They demonstrated how to properly plant, grow, transfer, and maximize mizuna plants. First, it’s important to overseed the small pots. Then, after the plant grows to a certain size, it can be removed from its pot and be separated into two or more pots, maximizing the amount of plants you started with.

Outside of methods, Kondo also learned that it’s important to grow something that personally sparks joy for you — in her case, carrots. “I love small tasks like this. It reminds me of tidying,” she said during the episode.

Kondo continued gardening after filming, and while her plants still die from time to time, she learned a larger lesson. “Some of my plants have withered, some have rejuvenated, but it really made me see that it’s all about experience, trial, and error, and that’s what Jimmy and Logan taught me,” Kondo told Apartment Therapy. “First, try it out and experience it for yourself, and that’s how you grow.”

Now that is a positive outlook. So next time you find you can’t grow your little pot of herbs or larger pot of tomatoes, remember to be kind to yourself and that it’s all about the journey.