Forget resolutions and let nature guide you
Setting out your stall with dreaded resolutions for a new year is rarely a good thing and always seems doomed to failure, but Monty Don’s Buddhist approach to gardening seems the perfect way to go. His January column in Gardeners’ World magazine provides a true Middle Way that might just last the year.
“I try to garden with Buddhist detachment,” he says, taking the rough of last year (the failure of Salvia guaranitica and Leonotis) with the smooth (tender annuals and Canna doing well). I tried to handle the death of my £69 standard pine that way. It didn’t go well.
Buddhist approach to gardening – Let the ‘good’ plants dominate
However much we think our garden belongs to us and we are in control, we have to accept that we are not. The sooner we do, the better it is for us and the healthier ecosystem we will become part of.
Monty cites the garden of Gilles Clément, whose garden La Vallée is ‘run’ with a very light touch. Pruning is forbidden, and he mows paths around what has self-seeded, letting the ‘good’ (ie, healthy) plants dominate. I can appreciate this, as I love self-seeders, the best (or worst) offenders in my garden being Echium pininana. They have changed the character of my garden for the better.
Unachievable goals
I’ve been attempting this after last year’s various illnesses, which meant I couldn’t do what I’d planned. In my head, I’d created unachievable goals which doomed me to failure before I started, and I then beat myself up about them.
So, how much gardening should you do? “Just enough,” said Gilles. Enigmatic, but it’s a focus on ‘light touch’ and ‘fingertip’ gardening, taking a step back. My only plan this year is to put on warm clothes and boots and step out of the door, then do what falls into my path.
Buddhist approach to gardening – Zen-like philosophy
It’s a Zen-like philosophy which can only make you feel better when you decide enough is enough, whether it be 10 minutes or 5 hours later. In the same edition, James Alexander-Sinclair resolves to go out into the garden for 15 minutes a day. We should all be able to fit that in, but I bet we don’t. Read more about Monty Don’s Paradise Gardens.
