The pleasures of gardening
One of the benefits of being retired, I have discovered, is that I can enjoy the pleasures of gardens and gardening.
There is a lovely verse about gardens in a poem I recall learning in my schooldays. It was written over 100 years ago by an Englishwoman Dorothy Gurney:
“The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,–
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.”
One does not really appreciate the beauties of gardens and trees and flowers when one is busy working – particularly in a profession like mine, when I used to wake up before the crack of dawn and often did not get home until after dark. When I was training to be a surgeon in England, I used say that I hardly ever saw my young children except by artificial light!
These days, living in a warm (sometimes too warm!) tropical country and with time available to me, I have taken up gardening. I have realized that it is a hobby that can be done in any manner that one likes – in a manner that can be adapted to suit one’s personal facilities, resources, whims and fancies.
One can plant vegetables or flowers (or a bit of both), one can have plants in pots, in hanging baskets or in the soil, one can start the plants from seed or from seedlings or even from cuttings gifted by neighbours and friends. One can select plants that need daily care and watering – or choose to work with cacti or orchids or other succulents.
One can gain so much from one’s garden. It does not expect you to give it more money than you can afford or more work than you can provide. All your garden needs is your attention. Right now there are a few plants in my garden that are in flower. I can spend a long time admiring individual flowers – but in spending time admiring the flowers, I cannot help being aware of both their individual beauty as well as their collective beauty of these flowers.
I have found that the best times to spend in my garden are the half an hour or so just before sunrise, when I can sit quietly with a mug of coffee and allow the dawn to unfold before me – and the half hour at twilight, that time of the day best described as ‘in the gloaming’. If one spends times like these in the garden, the stresses and strains of one’s everyday life recede into their true low-priority status. For a few moments one can live in the moment and experience real joy.
And I have become aware, as I till the soil, plant my seeds and seedlings, pull out the weeds and mix in the compost and fertilizer, that I am sharing my garden with a whole host of other life forms. As human beings, we live on this earth alongside millions of other living beings. Some of these beings are not as sentient as we are but they are nevertheless all earthly forms of life, that have as much a right to be here as we have.
The other important attraction of gardening is that one can enjoy a garden in its present form as well as anticipate the future. Plant today and expect to achieve blooms and fruits and vegetables in the months to come. When I start preparing my garden, I have one eye on the present and one on the future – because I am creating something for the future that not only I but also others can enjoy.
I suppose planting a garden is really an expression of hope for the future and perhaps even an expression of defiance. We plant something new, we nurture it and help it to grow despite all the problems it can encounter because we are planting for the future. Nurturing a garden is an expression of hope because it shows that I expect to be here in the months and years to come so I can enjoy the fruits and flowers of what I am planting today.
The Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero who lived over 2,000 years ago is quoted as having written ‘If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need’.
I cannot agree more.
Sanjiva Wijesinha is the author of Tales From my Island – see https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Island-Stories-Friendship-Childhood-ebook/dp/B00R3TS1QQ/
Searching for an ideal partner? Find your soul mate on Hitad.lk, Sri Lanka's favourite marriage proposals page. With Hitad.lk matrimonial advertisements you have access to thousands of ads from potential suitors who are looking for someone just like you.