Summer is well underway, fourth of July is here, vacation approaches, swimming pool nd hammock beckon. And there is the garden staring at you with reproach. Are you feeling just a tad guilty? Do you wish you had blinders on so as to avoid noticing the many chores that await? Relax. Its okay. Enjoy the summer fully. In my view, there are three ways to approach the garden chores.

The first is to just get the bare essentials done. Weed, water and generally keep the place tidy. A little bit everyday is very doable and quite effective. Not too time consuming plus you have the satisfaction of being in relative control of the place. The garden responds by looking good, you feel good – it is all good.

The next approach is more spiritual or Zen. To not get worked up or worried about the neglected garden. To take it as lessons in personal growth. For instance, consider a rose arch that has gone a little wild. Limbs are overhanging and while the it looks utterly charming, passing under it is not easy. In being forced to bend and walk through, think of it as a reminder to be humble. To acknowledge something greater than oneself.

The plants that are sprawled out of the flower beds and in your way are telling you to be accommodating and to go around them. Not everything needs your intervention – it is okay to let things be,

Weeds that emerge readily and in large numbers are simply asking for indiscriminate acceptance and the chance to assimilate.

Dying plants symbolize the circle of life and diseased ones seek compassion and care. Plants gone to seed teach one about perpetuity and continuity.

You see?

Finally, don’t do anything at all. Ever. See example below. Why interfere with Nature and have gardeners play God?

So, what will be your approach? I would truly love to know.

This quote from Shakespeare’s Richard II…Act 3, scene 4 expresses my own inclination:

“I will go root away the noisome weeds, which without profit suck
The soil’s fertility from wholesome flowers…”

(c) 2013 Shobha Vanchiswar