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Gardening Epiphany

jan65

By jan65

10 comments


You’d think, wouldn’t you, that with my dad being a mad-keen gardener for as long as I can remember, that he would have passed his love of the garden onto me as I was growing up.

Not so.

I don’t remember ever helping him in the garden as a child. Maybe I did and I’ve forgotten, but the only thing I can ever remember doing is planting an apple pip and it grew into a tree that dad planted at the side of the lawn.

Our garden was lovely, but to me it was just a play area. I had a swing, and grass, and that’s all that concerned me! As I got older, the garden became even less important.

Then when I was 20, I got married. We moved into a house that needed a lot doing to it – both inside and out. Naturally, the inside took priority and we painstakingly did it up, and as we were always on a tight budget, the garden was only just kept ticking over by clearing it very slowly and digging it over occasionally. It was a huge square of soil for several years.

While this was happening, our first daughter came along, and when she started toddling, my kind dad paid for a large patio and lawn to be put down so that she’d have somewhere safe to play. He planted some shrubs and a tree or two for us, then left us to it.

That’s when I realised I didn’t like gardening. I kept it tidy and occasionally planted something but it was a big chore, one that came way down on the list of priorities. I’d do a bit and then lose interest, and when I went back into the house I couldn’t appreciate my labours because our living room was at the front of the house, and even the kitchen sink looked out over the side of the house rather than the garden, so I couldn’t even look at it while I was washing up! My lovely hubby was, unfortunately, even less keen than me and was more interested in the DIY. And our second daughter had come along by that time so my time was taken up again with other priorities

Then, in 2000, we moved house. Our garden in the new house was visible from our living room, which is at the back of the house, and which has patio doors, meaning that the garden was constantly on display while we were inside.

Even then, I still didn’t care too much for gardening – again we had a house that needed a huge amount of work doing, and the garden was the least of our worries, what with a toddler and a ten year old.

While the inside work was being done, over a few years, we did gradually change the garden; we made it more child friendly and cleared a lot of dead and decaying shrubs, removed a huge shrub at the side of the garage which revealed a door and a window that we didn’t know was there, altered the scary shed into something more useable, and gradually improved the area. But it wasn’t really gardening.

But one lovely day in early summer, maybe six or seven years ago, I was sitting cross-legged on the path, trowelling the earth in the rockery in preparation for planting a little something, when … BAM! I suddenly realised I was enjoying myself. It was a glorious day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, the breeze was whispering through the trees, and it was so very peaceful.

I was happy.

From that very moment on I turned into a keen gardener. It was that sudden and I’ll never, ever forget it.

Magical.

More blog posts by jan65

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Comments

 

wow thank you so much for sharing your love for gardening xx

i know what you were saying when the garden was an extra you could just maintain.

i've discovered gardening this year, up untill then it was a chore, but now i love to wander amoungst the pots and beds :-) a whole different world xx

thank you xx

16 Jun, 2010

 

Thanks 4 sharing ur thoughts. Lovely story, I enjoyed it. Perhaps u might think of becoming a writer too.
I've loved gardening all my life so it was lovely to here there is a new gardener in the world! It put a smile on my face as there it little in the way of good news these days. It all make 4 a more beautiful world to live in. :-)
So do keep us posted on ur adventures in the garden. Over time I think u'll find in more than peaceful, it can be healing to, also one can have great thoughts while potting about all my yourself which can lead to more creativity or inventions or just a peaceful night sleep.
Best of luck.

16 Jun, 2010

 

What a lovely tale Jan. I hope you continue to find much pleasure in your garden.

17 Jun, 2010

 

Jan my mum loves her garden too..Always has done but I never showed any sign of interest at all, very much like you. Then I found myself in a grotty little flat with no decent neighbours and nowhere to sit on a sunny day so was stuck in doors. I longed so much for a garden and finally I have that garden and I treasure every minute of it..Always finding things to do (often that doesnt need doing) just to be working on it...The little garden I now have is my little piece of heaven and I love it dearly...
I am so glad you enjoy yours and I can kinda guess what it all means to you now :-)

17 Jun, 2010

 

What a lovely story.

17 Jun, 2010

 

ive enjoyed your lovely story,I go in my garden to do lots of thinking when im feeling a bit down, it really does cheer me up.

17 Jun, 2010

 

What a wonderful story....so pleased you eventually "saw the light"...if ever I'm "hung up" about something or need to make a decision that takes more than a few minutes to make.....thats where I'll be....in the garden, or the greenhouse...."working out " a solution.............onward and upward....:-o)))))))

17 Jun, 2010

 

Thank you all for your lovely comments. I'm glad you like my story - I'm interested to know how you all became interested in gardening.

18 Jun, 2010

 

What a great story, and, I suspect, one that is familiar to many gardeners who have, like you, 'come to it' after many years of indifference, not to mention the restrictions on gardening imposed by children, who see the garden as a play space. Recently, we were comparing gardening and garden histories with a friend whose garden, for years, was paved so that their two children could use it for playing, and, eventually, fixing motor bikes,and such. The kids have long since left home, but when they retired, the friends had a complete, total garden makover to suit themselves.Out went the paving, in came the lawn, flower beds, etc., etc. What this and your own (and my own) experience shows is that gardens, like people, go thru life cycle stages. It's nice when we and the gardens reach the stage when we take each other seriously, and value what each has to offer!

18 Jun, 2010

 

Hi Kowhai - I'm still sharing my, ahem, our, garden with our youngest daughter. We've just put a new swing up for her. It's a big-un! One day when she grows out of it, I'll get the garden back I dare say! Meanwhile, I don't do so badly!

21 Jun, 2010

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