Firstly, it is battle against nature. Trees and plants are
growing in all directions, but one has to control them. When I deal with vines
and weeds, it’s indeed nothing but fight with them.
Gardening also makes every moment fresh presentation. It’s similar
to painting a picture, but each item in the garden is living. Even stones and
gravel are slightly changing, not to mention plants. In that sense, gardening
is not only design, but also governance.
A tree even represents a spirit who originally planted it. Last
Sunday, my mother appeared in my dream and seriously quarreled with me. I spoke
out and woke up, having this thought she might be still haunting and not rest
in peace. That afternoon I went to my second house and found tons of pink flowers
bursting from the tree which I think she planted.
“Ah…she is expressing herself,” I intuitively understood. A lady living
next door for decades was also gardening and said, “Hello – beautiful flowers,
aren’t they?” I thought she might have had that idea, too.
Originally I had planned to change the entire garden into English
style and asked a gardener to design an English garden. His plan was beautiful,
moving some plants to another place and planting new flowers. But I thought I’d
rather keep the garden as it is, because it is the place for deceased owners’
self-fulfillment.
Plants live longer than humans and succeed previous generations’
soul. That is another aspect of gardening, the BBC documentary described.
Whether Downton Abbey which takes one million dollars annually for maintenance, or my 207 square meter property, the garden is a universe where
generations of plants and people dialogue.
