May : Pause and Enjoy

There are half a dozen swifts overhead, three of them diving down to the pond. WONDERFUL.

The large carp are cruising around near the surface. This is so much more fulfilling than fighting my way around Chelsea flower show ( and believe me, I have done it ). There is so much to see and simply….. quietly…. enjoy: right here.

The swifts are so fast, so agile. They swoop and dive and somehow avoid collisions at phenomenal speeds. This is real live drama.

The garden is spectacular today. There is so much colour in the borders and such a variety of lush wild and cultivated grasses. The wild flowers are very pretty, with a good showing of buttercups and ox- eye daisies this year.

We’re always teetering on the edge of complete anarchy in our garden. Sometimes it takes over and some areas look rather shaggy and unkempt. But it’s not about winning or losing, or control, or trying to make a show garden to impress or be competitive.
It’s not about that at all.
Better to appreciate what you’ve got around you in nature and in life.

For us, the evidence of our success is the abundance of wildlife in all shapes and forms, and the amount of pleasure we get from watching it through the seasons. If the garden was more “ in control”, more tamed and everything had its place, it would be a great shame and a loss to our senses of pure pleasure and unexpected surprise.

How awfully negative and depressing to see munched foliage, or a bad year for a particular plant as a threat or a failure, and allow it to detract from something else that is thriving abundantly.
How awful to see bugs as something to eradicate or get bothered about. This is one reason why, though I study the theory of horticulture, I prefer to gain my practical experience through a certain amount of trial and error, and by getting my hands dirty.

The more I learn, the more I appreciate there is no categorically correct way. So many big gardening organisations and ‘experts’ suck the joy out of gardening by making it seem incredibly complex. People get put off because they lose confidence in their own abilities.
There is no right or wrong – just enjoy the doing of it. Get lost in the therapy of the activity.