Gardening has become an outlet for me when I want to feel useful or creative. I've become to think of my gardening space as a big blank canvas that I must slowly fill. It's February now and it is especially during this time of year that I must remind myself not to wait till spring or summer to feel full of life. There is always something I could be doing. Right now I am cleaning up the debris that has amassed over winter, clearing away dead plants, getting excited over new life emerging, planning for the planting season and moving plants. It's also a time to reflect on what I want from my garden and how to achieve it. This is why I am thinking about gardening as an artistic project, to keep me looking for inspiration and thinking about aesthetics. I loved art in school but I don't think I was ever suited to the mediums of paint or ceramics etc. I knew I wanted to create but didn't know my niche. I've always loved writing and keeping a gardening blog turned out to be extremely satisfying, not least because gardening suits me as a person who loves solitude and staying at home but wants to be out in nature. So now I'm thinking about what inspires my gardening ways.
The Sea
We have great stony beaches nearby. I've never enjoyed the sandy sunny beach days of high summer but I love the tactile experience of a rough coast line littered with interesting stones, shells, seaweed and rock pools. I use beach stones and shells for decoration in the garden and harvest dead seaweed for mulch. I love art and jewellery that uses found beach material. Even driftwood is full of possibilities.
Polyculture
I started gardening because I wanted to try growing something to eat. I never felt interested in flowers or decorative plants until I realised I was thinking about it all wrong. Buying ready made plants in plastic pots will do nothing for me because the purpose of the flower is not simply for my enjoyment, it has a part to play in a much wider biodiverse picture, as food and shelter for pollinating insects and as a layer in a complex canopy. Once I started thinking of plants as part of a living landscape, it encouraged me to think about the relationship between plants and to move away from monocrop straight lines. Now I endeavour to mix vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers while sparing a thought for companion planting without over thinking it.
The mark of success I am aiming for is to be able to go to my garden on the birthdays of my friends and family and harvest a bouquet without feeling anxious about depleting my stocks. It feels great to offer someone a bunch of edibles, a cutting or some surplus seedlings, just as I love to receive them. I want a bounty I can share. Rather than bringing a token shop-bought cake when visiting someone's home, I'd like to be able to bring a punnet of home grown strawberries. There are many situations where buying a gift might be overkill but a homemade token is understated and almost always appreciated.
So get inspired, get going and get growing!
Friendships
The mark of success I am aiming for is to be able to go to my garden on the birthdays of my friends and family and harvest a bouquet without feeling anxious about depleting my stocks. It feels great to offer someone a bunch of edibles, a cutting or some surplus seedlings, just as I love to receive them. I want a bounty I can share. Rather than bringing a token shop-bought cake when visiting someone's home, I'd like to be able to bring a punnet of home grown strawberries. There are many situations where buying a gift might be overkill but a homemade token is understated and almost always appreciated.
So get inspired, get going and get growing!
