An Imperfect, Natural Garden
An evening in June in the garden and we are engulfed by nature, not knowing where our bodies end and the plants begin. An overflowing garden is one of those rare win-win situations. It is good for the wildlife, good for nature, good for the climate and good for the gardener's senses and wellbeing.
Our garden is a private, domestic garden in Wiltshire, England. The wabi sabi principles of embracing the natural, the imperfect and the impermanent are important characteristics.
The garden is a biodiverse and to a large part beautifully secluded space, which features perennials borders, ornamental grasses, a stumpery, wildlife pond and folly, wildflower mounds, a circular grass meadow with spring bulbs, a vegetable garden and more.
We "owned" the garden long before I became a gardener. I believe that the garden does not belong to me but is borrowed from nature and the wildlife. My duty as a gardener and resident of this planet is to work with nature, not against it, to put nature before my own demands and to consider its requirements before making alterations.
This incarnation of the garden is a living and ever evolving project, which started only in 2017. From the beginning I knew that I wanted a garden that was beneficial for the wildlife, overflowing with plants and a joyful refuge for the human residents.
The garden has taught me humbleness. I am not the great controller but the caretaker at best. Gardening is an act of creation only within the confines of what nature will allow us to do. The term natural is an indispensable part of wabi sabi theories. It means that we relinquish the notion of control in favour of welcoming guidance from the garden and nature herself. Only then can we hope to achieve something truly beautiful. The wabi sabi connection was not a part of the original idea but followed from these reflections - I only discovered it after I had started to garden.
Natural also means that we welcome wildflowers (some people call them weeds), which arrive in the garden on the wind and decide to stay. In truth - and I know that this is a sentimental notion - I feel honoured and blessed that they should choose our garden. I realised at an early stage in my gardening that you can only ever hope to gently manage weeds. If you try to fight them, you are going to lose unless you resort to herbicides (but why would anyone in their right mind want to poison nature?) or concrete over the entire garden and plant plastic trees (yuck!).
Let us accept weeds for what they are, beautiful and useful plants. Many flower alluringly and for a long time and are immensely beneficial for the wildlife. They help to move towards a state of equilibrium, which has long been lost in many gardens.
As an artist, I am interested in how relinquishing the notion of control can be at the centre of an artist's work.
The garden is the exclusive location for my book An Imperfect Garden.
