A Garden Philosophy

By 5 commentsCategory: Design, GardenTags: ,

“I have found, through the years of practice, that people garden in order to make something grow; to interact with nature; to share, to find sanctuary, to heal, to honor the earth, to leave a mark. Through gardening, we feel whole as we make our personal work of art upon our land.”

~Julie Moir Messervy, The Inward Garden

Start small

You don’t need to drastically overhaul your garden all at once.  Just go a few hours without predetermined goals in mind. Give yourself the freedom to follow your passion for an hour or so. 

Grow

As you get better at this, start learning more about the plants you love. See what other plants do well in your area. Eventually you’ll feel confident enough ‘branch out’ and plant something new. One new gardener likes to buy annuals that she’s never seen bloom.  Then it’s a surprise and joy to see them do so.

Gardening, not just work

Garden because you love it, and have no idea where that will take you.  This is the reason to go out in the garden with no plan in mind, tasks will come to you and you do them naturally and always because you’re enjoying yourself!

Mule deer, they don’t care. They don’t give a hoot!

Let go of plans

Plans are not really necessary to have a great garden. Many, many gardeners start their gardens this way. They look at the plants at the nursery and plant what they like.  Sometimes it’s incredibly difficult to let go of living with plans, but for instance, take note of where you already walk in the garden now. Where do you naturally want to go in the garden?  That’s where to plan your pathways in the garden. 

Don’t worry about mistakes

It’s OK. There are no mistakes on this journey — it’s just a learning experience. Most gardeners have killed a lot of plants. There’s no failure if you have no set destination! 

It’s all good

No matter what garden you create, no matter where you end up, it’s beautiful. Your garden is all so personal, different, and belongs to you only. Don’t judge, but experience!

Peckinpah Mountain

Old grizzled Peckinpah Mountain, it’ll be here no matter what, …through problems big and small.

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5 comments

  1. Town Mouse -

    Oh, I couldn’t agree more. I feel as if anybody who even cares to get involved in their garden should be congratulated. It’s such a great way to get in touch with yourself and the world around you.

  2. Town Mouse -

    Oh, I couldn’t agree more. I feel as if anybody who even cares to get involved in their garden should be congratulated. It’s such a great way to get in touch with yourself and the world around you.

  3. Desiree -

    Another lovely post, Sue and I’m especially delighted that you gave a thumbs up for gardening without a plan. My whole garden evolved, from scratch, without a plan, and has changed through the years as the garden has grown and some sections disappeared, whilst others were created. I am the world’s worst planner. I buy my plants on impulse and never have an end in mind when I start gardening. I have always regarded my gardening style (approach) as intuitive. I do what feels right at the time and nine times out of ten, I’m happy with the final result. Nature intervenes strongly, in any case (certainly in my garden!) and she decides if anything needs tweaking. Once again, she’s usually right and I’m happy to agree, otherwise, we compromise 🙂

  4. Desiree -

    Another lovely post, Sue and I’m especially delighted that you gave a thumbs up for gardening without a plan. My whole garden evolved, from scratch, without a plan, and has changed through the years as the garden has grown and some sections disappeared, whilst others were created. I am the world’s worst planner. I buy my plants on impulse and never have an end in mind when I start gardening. I have always regarded my gardening style (approach) as intuitive. I do what feels right at the time and nine times out of ten, I’m happy with the final result. Nature intervenes strongly, in any case (certainly in my garden!) and she decides if anything needs tweaking. Once again, she’s usually right and I’m happy to agree, otherwise, we compromise 🙂

  5. Sue Langley -

    Thanks, Mouse and Desiree, It seems I garden like most, as I go along…never know what the next garden year will bring!

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