An architect I worked with many years ago left me with some
gardening advice that I have tried to put into practice over the years. To honor
his mother, who was from Sweden, he planted a bed of red and white flowers every
spring, and the perspective of that bed was toward the front door of the house
for him to enjoy, and not toward the sidewalk where we traditionally orient our
yards. He was so right! I had my lightbulb moment. How many plants are in my small
yard that I don’t see even once a day? Is my gardening primarily for my benefit
or for other people?
I took this idea seriously and focused on the view out my
kitchen window where I spend a lot of time. I look out to a very large tree and
into the neighborhood. The base of the tree has a raised border and I am filling
that garden with hostas because it’s a shady area. It is looking really good
this year, the plants are filling in nicely and are in full bloom right now.
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| My room with a view. Can't wait to see how this unfolds! |
Now I am working on the view out of my home office window
where I am spending more time than anywhere else these days. Because of the COVID-19
pandemic I have been working from home since mid-March. Maybe you have been, too.
There is a small bedroom with a nice sized desk. I bought a decent chair and
that has become my work space.
I watched the trees and plants come alive out
the window in my office as spring turned into summer here in the
mid-Atlantic. I have found it therapeutic to be able to look out to living
things and I am grateful to have access to the outdoors during this stressful
and chaotic time.
And I have also noticed that the area of the yard that I see
all day is kind of overrun with ground cover coming under the fence from the
neighbor and does not have much plant diversity. Before I was looking out the
window at it all day, I just left this area of the yard alone because it was
green and that was all I needed from it. But looking at it five days a week I
recognize that it is boring and not very pleasing compared to the other gardens
in my yard. The raised vegetable bed and the flower beds and the containers are
all coming along really beautifully. I wish I could see that area of the yard
from my window! But I don’t, so how can I replicate that beauty and the joy it
brings me in this little forgotten slice of the back yard?
