If it is true that gardens are a form of autobiography then it probably suggests that my life is a bit of a disaster! I am not a gardener, given the choice I would always choose a beach to a garden, in fact I would choose field in preference to a garden. I don't like to see things growing in rows and I don't like big brash plants in bold colours. I prefer a gentler, more natural look, with more subtle flowers such as bluebells and primroses.
In our back garden we have a couple of large lilac bushes, which I am quite fond of. The trouble is that they are thugs, if you turn your back on them they double in size and start marching across the garden. In the far corner is a large Hawthorne tree, I love that most of all, the blossom is beautiful, it cheers me up when I look out of the kitchen window. We have a couple of other trees too, the holly is still there because it puts off anyone who may think of coming over the back fence, but maybe I should plant a couple of Pyracanthas as well, they have some serious thorns! There is a big tree at the back of the garden, I don't know what it is, but I know it is too tall and it really should come down. The trouble is that it is easier said than done and it is one of those things that keeps getting put off because there is always a more urgent call on our finances.
In the front garden we have several rose bushes a climbing rose, clematis, forsythia and my absolute favourite a very large Philadelphus. I am fond of the roses, especially the climbing rose, but it feels as if they are in competition with the hedge to see which one can grow fastest and take over the garden. Allowing things to look natural is one thing but allowing them to take over is quite another. The rose bushes had become too tall and too wide so that it was hard to walk around the front garden and the hedge was reaching out into the garden and threatening to stop anyone walking down the path. Clearly it was time to take drastic action, so this weekend we the whole family made a concerted attack on the front garden. Robbie was incredible, he tamed the hedge next to the drive. I was really worried that he would aggravate his back and I could tell that he was hurting but he did a good job. I did battle with the roses - they fought back and they fight dirty, but in the end they were cut down to size. My daughter's boyfriend tackled the rest of the hedge and my son and daughter tamed the other shrubs. It looks a lot better now, but it will be a while before I want to do that again.
I don't know if I just have an odd way of thinking or if this sort of thing happens to everyone. Sometimes I spot something seemingly insignificant, but the memory of what I saw stays with me and takes on an unexpected significance. Some years ago I used to work in a village called Long Buckby and the journey between my home and my work took me through what I consider some of the most beautiful countryside in Northamptonshire. One year in January as I drove along a country road I saw some tinsel caught on the hedge. It was a frosty morning and the tinsel looked tawdry in comparison to the natural beauty of the frosty hedge. Yet just weeks before we had been excited by the prospect of Christmas and tinsel just like the piece stuck in the hedge had adorned our Christmas trees and added sparkle to our lives. Even now when I drive along that road I often remember the tinsel in the hedge. There is no man made 'sparkle' that can compare with the natural beauty of the world around us.
This week I took a close look at my front garden, it looks wintry and bare with just the first hints of life showing through. The trellis next to the front door that is covered in big purple Clematis flowers in May and June, is covered in the pretty yellow flowers of winter Jasmine. Last time I looked the winter Jasmine was in the far corner of the garden, but I guess it had other ideas and now I stop to appreciate it each time I unlock the front door. The green shoots of daffodils have pushed through the soil. They were in the garden when we moved here, for 20 years they have been ignored and neglected yet still they come to brighten the garden each spring. The tubs are empty now, their summer glory long forgotten. The stones around the base of the bedraggled rose bushes looked dull and unattractive. Each one had been lovingly collected by me over the years because I found the colour, shape or something else about the stone attractive, but now they looked dull and boring, a few even had moss growing on them. It looks as if we will need to get the power hose on the stones to restore their sparkle - but I am not sure that I want to arm Robbie with a power hose!
Perhaps this is a good lesson, sea washed stones only look truly beautiful when they are sea washed! Seeing the tinsel in the hedge made me appreciate the natural beauty of the hedge, and it made me see the beauty in the world around me. Perhaps everything (and everyone) has a place where true potential can be seen and appreciated.
By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower. ~Rabindrath Tagore
