I’m fascinated by stories about how people came to gardening.
I’ve heard a few over the years, and gardeners seem to fall into two camps. There are those who were introduced to gardening by relatives when they were very young, and also people who had an epiphany later in life.
Early Start
I had an early introduction. My parents were interested in gardening so it was something that was just around in my younger years. School, and the child’s need to be accepted among peers, took away my interest for many years; with hindsight it was only suppressed, not extinguished.
My first job was with an alstroemeria nursery, but I learnt a lot about other plants too
As I grew older something happened. Maybe I realised that I was never going to be one of the ‘cool kids’, or maybe I was at a point in my life when I felt like I wanted to be my true self. I don’t really know what my friends were up to at that point; I was in my garden.
There is a great advantage to getting children involved in gardening when they’re young. I mean involved and not interested; interests are a very personal thing, and if a child is not going to pick up the interest then pushing it will only breed resentment.
My parents bought Trachystemon orientalis years ago; I still grow it from the division they made decades ago.
Certainly among my professional colleagues, that community of people who dedicate their working lives to the practice of horticulture, many seem to have had a benevolent influence early on. It’s interesting, possibly even important, to note that many of the describe their early experiences along the lines of helping in the garden.
I’ve never heard anyone speak with great passion about being endlessly lectured about all things plant and garden. Important things happen when we make a physical bond.
Later In Life
We all pick up experience on life’s journey.
Why shouldn’t the same be true when it comes to gardening? There comes a time when we leave the family home and move out, and we might be lucky enough that our homes come with a bit of ground we can make into a garden. Life can delay that; careers, family and other commitments take priority.
Daffodils are wonderful, especially if you’re a beginner.
I feel sorry for people who never get to make that connection with soil and plants. Some folks are just not wired for gardening, and I get that. I get enormous value from gardens and the act of nurturing them; for others it’s all just a chore like cleaning the house. That’s fine. That’s life.
The tragedy for me is when people come to gardening later in their lives and realise that this is what they should have been doing all along. I’m so enormously lucky to have found my vocation at an early point in my life. Whether it’s someone’s destiny to be a gardener, an artist, a musician or anything else, being able to do what’s right for you at an almost spiritual level is an enormous honour.
It’s something that never comes for a lot of people.
Do we all have a story?
Do we all have fond memories of gardening with parents or grandparents as a child, or a moment more recently in life where things suddenly clicked together and we realised that gardening meant something?
Roses are great plants to get people interested in gardening
Conversely I wonder if anyone has created a beautiful garden without caring, shoving plants in without any sense of bonding with the garden itself?
Great gardens don’t come about by mathematical formulae, they come about through devotion. We see ‘gardening by numbers’ in some of our municipal plantings, where unlucky shrubs get dumped into the ground to soften parking lots and buildings. You can always tell when planting has been made, and maintained, by people who just don’t care.
I think it’s important to care about gardens, and it’s important to encourage others to care too. A little nudge of encouragement can start something big, like a cartoon snowball gaining size as it rolls down a hill.
Gardens can have a great influence on us all
I suspect most of us have our stories of how we got involved with gardening. It would be an honour to hear yours if you feel like sharing.
As we mull over why gardening has become such an important part of life, maybe it’s worth thinking about the positive influences we’ve enjoyed over the years. I’m don’t mean the authors whose books we love or the designers whose work we enjoy, I mean the people just like you and me who gave us the gentle nudge of encouragement when we needed it. The people who shared their plants with us when we were getting started. The people who helped us when we got things wrong.
Gardens might be made with plants but could never exist without people.
Our Stories originally appeared on GardenRant on November 25, 2024.
The post Our Stories appeared first on GardenRant.
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