What Gardening Means to Me

What Gardening Means to Me

 

Everyone who knows me knows that I spend a lot of time in my garden and work hard to create something that pleases me in each place I’ve lived.

Recently I’ve had three fairly substantial goes at making gardens, and I thought I’d explore some of the reasons for my ‘gardening obsession’ in this blog. While there were other gardens before the three I’m going to look at here these are the three that I’ve created since meeting Takis over twenty years ago.

Why I like Gardening

Before looking closer at examples of these three gardens I thought I’d try and explore (analyze) the reasons why I love gardening.

As a child of a twice widowed mother (through war and accident) I’ve lived in various homes, many in the first eight years of my life. Later I was sent to boarding school, then to a boarding college and eventually, of my own volition I immigrated to Australia. Perhaps it is because of all these various homes I’ve always had a feeling that ‘home’ and ‘garden’ were just terms, often used by me to describe other people’s homes and gardens. I’d often used the term ‘our home’ or ‘our garden’ with a sense of nostalgia wanting one of my own. But I’ve always had the feeling that somewhere there was a place that would offer me a place where I could put down roots and belong.

Creating a fit

 

So, as I’ve been thinking about this need for a ‘home of my own’ in relation to my gardens I’ve realized that in each new garden I’d look about me and want to develop an idea, one that I thought would fit this situation.

The Idea - Sandune and Lakeside Garden

To create a ‘fit’ was all about coming up with ideas that fitted the land forms, climate and soil. My style of setting about accomplishing this tended not to happen all at once, it was not a ‘backyard blitz’. It would involve a long creative exploration of possibilities, and would grow up around us slowly, as we lived, ate, planted and worked in this environment. Thus each garden was an ‘organic project’, one in which I planted hopefully, adjusted as necessary, and made with the help of some other garden lovers.

The Reality a Sand Dune Garden in Loch Sport

Making something sturdy and useful

 

The Idea - Garden Rooms

I am not an avid collector, nor would I call myself a really knowledgeable gardener, but I have had some experience and I do love gardening. My planting though always idiosyncratic always was based on a collection of plants that were tough enough to grow in this place. They were often indigenous, or perhaps had been brought to this area previously and seemed to be doing well here. I’ll usually gather some of these plants locally (from roadsides), and be given others by my new neighbors, plus I’ll buy a few from local plant nurseries.

 

All gardeners develop a little collection of their own plants somewhere in their garden. But gardens also need to have a backbone of these kinds of plants that are tough enough to survive whatever the difficulties offered. Some of the plants I really want to try out in this place will want this shelter.

 

The Reality Garden Rooms in Lemnos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to the climate and soil type I’ll always add vegetables and fruit trees and try to make sure the flowering plants offer some cutting plants for the house all year round.

 

Being involved in making ‘my own little world

 The Idea a Woodland Glen

Some gardeners will chose to collect a particular species that they love, with as many examples of that type as they find. That gardener will be very knowledgeable about that particular species. Others may choose some other criteria for their selection, perhaps a collection of water plants, or a collection of dry climate plants. I tend to use dry climate plants whenever possible because I’m aware that dry summers are becoming more frequent in each place, but I also love to include some of my own ‘specially  loved’ plants. These are the ones that I have a romantic, nostalgic, affection for. For instance, I have long loved chrysanthemums, bluebells, apple trees, climbing beans, cherry blossom, geraniums, lavender and these will usually find a  place somewhere in my garden. They still remind me of places I enjoyed as a child. 

 I feel that in part my joy in gardening is linked to a delight in nature generally, including the birds and beasts that visit ‘my world’.

The Reality - A Woodland Garden in Emerald

While in high school we read a lot of Words worth’s poetry, and I can vividly remember Miss Appleyard reading from Wordsworth’s  Ode on the Intimations of Immortality.  The sun was streaming into the small first floor school room and the soporific effect of the day was set against the constraints of the old wooded desk. However, though only twelve I was aware that the ‘glory’ of nature, though in part a ‘dream’ was enough to inspire passion.

There was a time when meadow, grove and stream,

The earth, and every common sight,

To me did seem

Apparelled in celestial light,

The glory and the freshness of a dream.

I too sometimes felt this strangely unifying relationship with nature, perhaps when playing in a bluebell wood, or walking on the downs with the fresh winds blowing.

Last year I read these words in the Guardian,

In Defence of Nature Writing.

A passion for the small, the particular and the local. Towards the concept of neighbourliness as a template with which to approach and write about our relations with our fellow organisms... (this approach) permits concern, shared circumstance, even love from afar, but demands no reciprocity.

Richard Mabey

Filled with joy by nature’s changes.

 When you paint of sculpt you hope the object will remain in its pristine condition, but when you garden you absolutely know it will not. From one week to the next it will change, and it will need pruning, replacing, sweeping, mowing. Also unfortunately you will have to move on and will not get to see the work of creation reach maturity.

And gardens also remind you of changing in yourself. As you age you are not able to accomplish as much in a couple of hours. Also, some plants have a special place in my garden because they have a special place in my heart and may be repeated in other gardens. But I’ve also noticed that each garden tells a story about how my life has moved and that I have also changed some of my gardening preferences.  

Spring in Emerald