How Not to Take Gardens Too Seriously
A garden that makes you smile helps add years to your life*
(* Perhaps something I just made up?)
Cuckoo clocks, a fluffy snowfall, cheese, and warm laundry. What do they all have in common? They all make me smile. Or in the words of Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music) or classic crooner, Andy Williams (think Christmas Carol), “These are a few of my favorite things.” Every human has a desire to smile and be happy and we each have certain things floating in our busy brains that when thought of will trigger a grin.
Our gardens should be no different. Sure, colorful tulips and sweet-scented magnolia blooms bring us joy but so does the unexpected. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’ll cut to the chase. Today’s topic, Garden Whimsy! Now for the more high-brow of you will stop reading here and go back to your green and white gardens but for the rest of us (those not afraid of a little color or those who use multi-colored lights on their Christmas trees), please read on.
In his 1965 Beatnik-style book “Gardens Make Me Laugh”, James Rose writes about choosing the right rock in the garden with which to have a conversation. While his writing flutters from the unimportant of flowers in a garden to how all Japanese gardens are indeed located in Japan, I smile as he lightens the tone about what exactly makes a successful garden.
Our property is massive, by European standards. But its pretty dinky compared to US parcels. It’s somewhere between 1/5 and ¼ acre. However, a lot is going on here. I like to think of it as a place of discovery. For the first-time visitor, there is the “macro” decor. This includes the rarely moving metal goat who calls our mini-meadow home. Also, in this category I would add the perpetually running sink fountain located near the screened porch, added as I cannot hear the garden pond waterfall from there and I need my white noise to drown out a few of those God-awful gas-powered leaf blowers (I think by now you may have gathered I’m not a fan of these noise-making, destructors of the atmosphere).
Visitors should also look “up” when strolling our garden.
On a “micro” scale, we have the 2-inch gnome desperately clinging to the top of the tomato cage along with the many Hot Wheels cars I stash in various places to put a smile on the face of wandering neighborhood kids (at about 5 quarters, many of these also go home with the discoverer, good investment). Also on the micro scale, I find adding some miniature people procured from model rail sites is always a hit.
Your garden should reflect your personality. Once people get a read on the real you, often unique pieces of yard art (or yart) just drops in your lap. Like the cool ceramic doll head that was given to me by one of my garden club buddies after she visited our place.
Yes, this writing is not one of a scientific nature but you hopefully by now get my point. Break the rules. Keep your eyes peeled for discarded “junk” tossed to the curb and see if anything might be repurposed cleverly. (Maybe raise your bar just a tad higher than grabbing the abandoned toilet to fill with geraniums though).
AND one for the season!
Echoing the words of Ice Cream gurus, Ben & Jerry, “If it’s not fun, why do it?”
Till next time,
ETERNAL SMILES!