Creating beauty in tandem with Mother Nature will never be time wasted.
(Madisyn Taylor)
Time spent in nature's embrace is a soothing reminder of the fact that we also are products of the natural world's ingenuity. We feel at home in a quiet forest and are comforted by the pounding surf of the seaside. In both the sunny meadow and the shaded waterfall's grotto, stress and tension we have long retained melts away. However, finding opportunities to reconnect with nature to enjoy its healing benefits can be difficult. Planting and tending a garden allows us to spend time with Mother Nature in a very personal and hands-on way. We work in tandem with nature while gardening, honouring the seasons, participating in the life cycle of various organisms, experiencing the unique biorhythms of our environments, and transcending all that divides us from the natural world. As we interact with the soil, we are free to be ourselves and reflect upon meditative topics. Fresh air invigorates us, while our visceral connection to the earth grounds us.
Though you may plant a garden to grow food or herbs, or for the pleasure of seeing fresh flowers in bloom, you will likely discover that the time you spend working in your plot feels somehow more significant than many of the seemingly more important tasks you perform each day. Whether your garden can be measured in feet or is a collection of plants in pots, tending it can be a highly spiritual experience. You, by necessity, develop a closer relationship with the soil, seeds, water, and sunlight. Nurturing just a single plant means cultivating a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that permit it to thrive. A true healing garden is simply one where you feel comfortable plunging your hands into the earth, lingering over seedlings and plants to observe their growth. And yes, even caressing and talking to plants. Creating beauty through the creative use of space and giving yourself over to awe when you realize that you have worked hand in hand with nature to give birth to something, is truly wonderful.
The partnership that is formed when you collaborate with Mother Nature through gardening is wonderful in that it provides you with so many opportunities to be outdoors. You will be reminded of not only your connection to the earth but also of your unique gifts that allow you to give back to the earth.
My Thoughts:
This is very apt for me right at this moment. When we first moved here a few years ago I set out the back garden how I thought it should be. Mother Nature had other ideas. I had not taken into consideration the strength of the wind that whips around the side of the house. As a consequence, all the stones laid neatly between the edging slabs ended up in the flower borders and the whole area gradually became unkempt as storm after storm hit the West Coast of Scotland last year.
Something needed doing, but I was at a loss as to what. Finally, it clicked. Raised flower beds and then the stones could easily be swept back if they got out of line. But you can’t just do one bit of a garden without the rest of it shouting for attention. Collecting dust in the shed was a waterfall feature and so I installed that, along with a full rockery. New topsoil was delivered in bulk, as were some more black stones, which all needed moving to the right places. New flower beds warranted new flowers and shrubs, and some mulch to go on top. Before the new stones could be put in place, I decided to dig out the weeds between the slabs and concrete the gaps, and then while I was about it, re-paint the red slabs to freshen them up.
So now the main garden is almost sorted … well apart from the greenhouse which is going to get a makeover, and then there is all the rubbish to shift, and the new table to make that I now think is needed to go beside the seat, and really the seat could do with some new wooden slats.
Once all that is done, then I can start on putting in a raised concrete foundation for the new garden room which has still to be built, plus the backdoor porch and flower planters and a much-needed outdoor heater installed, well it is Scotland after all.
Autumn will bring with it a need to prune the trees, collect seed heads and harvest the fruit, if the birds have not got to them first. Winter will bring more storms which will show me just where I have gone wrong at the planning stage. Next year I can start to put all that right.
Hard work but well worth it when I am sitting out supping a glass of wine and contemplating what else still needs doing. And, somewhere in all this there will be rainy days … so l might even get time to do some writing done as well.