It is always a good thing to look after wildlife and the wider environment. And there’s no question that plants will generally thrive when they have the conditions they like. But beyond that there isn’t a right or a wrong way of creating a garden. The fact is, as with our homes, we have different needs, different priorities, different resources and different tastes. And our gardens of course reflect that.
One person might love a sense of order with clipped edges and tightly curated borders. Another might revel in a wilder space – welcoming plants that find their way without being invited. Some want to become experts while others just want to understand the bare essentials. And then there’s everyone and everything in between.
The image of Michael Pollan’s father (as described in his book ‘Second Nature’) mowing his initials into the front garden that he had allowed to become a meadow, is an amusingly graphic example of how our gardens can become expressions of ourselves. The American tradition of the manicured front garden was not one he was interested or motivated to sustain. Our gardens should bring us pleasure, rather than be projects that feed any sense of obligation. They should be places where we have permission to express the values and interests that make us who we are.
What would you like your garden to say about you?
