Gardening is a Process not a Production

Blogging like gardening is a process that takes place over time. At its best ideas and results are explored and explained, but there will need to be modulation. Without troughs and dips in level of activity the possibility of highlights and peaks will not exist. My blog, like my garden has been at rest this winter, but once more there is activity afoot.

In the west of the Netherlands winter has been more of a fact than a reality these past few months. Unlike the previous few years, snow, ice and frost have hardly happened and some plants in my garden that normally die down have managed to hold onto some of their foliage. Now that the sun is shining and it is dry, everything seems to be poised to rush into renewed activity; hope is on the horizon.

Decay and debris are part of the process of gardening and essential for life itself.

Yesterday, looking at the remnants of last year’s flowers was like a meeting with old friends. Just before launching myself into a frenzy of activity to set the stage for a new year of gardening I took time to look at what was there; rekindling my hopes and aspirations for a new step in this never ending activity of gardening, but regretting the removal of so much that was still so beautiful.

Perennial meadows are cut down in February. What weeds there are should be removed and any new mulches added to the borders before new growth emerges. This year will be challenging as already bulbs and the noses of perennials are pushing through the soil’s surface, but with care, this simply means that this stage of the process must just take that little bit longer.

This stage in the process is invigorating not only for the growth of the garden, but also for the ideas it contains. By paring the landscape back to its fundamentals it triggers hope and aspiration. From virtually nothing a whole new world of form, texture, colour and moods is about to evolve; low, open and innocent in spring, full,  lush and romantic in summer and dramatic, overwhelming even threatening in autumn and winter.

The best productions go on forever.