Gardening is not for everyone
Many people live in the cities, have in best cases a balcony or some indoor plants – that is it. When some children believe the milk comes from the bottle, their parents will not even know the meaning of gardening in a broader context. This is a bitter truth, but unfortunately the reality.
I am a lucky chap and have had much experience with gardening, but I must also admit I am a late starter. I would have been from the type of people above, if my fate had not torn me from the giant city where I was born and brought me to less populated regions all the time.
„Outdoors“ has been the keyword for a job recommendation after I had completed a survey on areas of interest during my school days. I have laughed and put this aside, until I have felt good when I was hiking on the mountains, climbing one sumit after the other or skiing the slopes down – especially the black ones!
Well yes, I am definitely a gardener… and to be precise I need to be outdoors, playing with earth, getting dirty and tired in order to balance my emotional overflow, literally earthing myself. During all these times my hands work as well as my mind… creating these thoughts like the contents of this text here. So let us dive into the topic, shall we?
Gardening with a view
I have been helping our grandmother over the last weekends in her garden. Her precious, everywhere a great rose or blossoming plant, in great colors organized a perfect garden… Sometimes I think the garden is her life purpose, for how much she organizes her life around the seasons and when to do what. Nearly on a daily basis rotted leaves are cut, further maintenance is planned, greater tasks are outsourced. At the end this is really a great paradise with a view of the lake – a perfect retreat!
This is gardening with a spectacular view… Will you show me your garden?
Working in her garden, I did not feel good though. Not because of the hard work (I am durable.) but because I would never have set up a garden like that… It felt strange to me. Further busy with my hands, thoughts swaying in parallel, this genius mind had the wildest idea of guessing the energies of a person from looking at their garden. I play this game often – guessing energies of people I know and can pinpoint the energy of the year rather precisely. The first impression of a person is the key for my perception. I do make mistakes when the person does not fit into my expectation to alter, but I am progressing myself. Anyway, bringing this new dimension to my game has occupied my mind for a longer time. Here are my results.
Passion in garden
Our grandmother is Yin Fire (Ding) with supporting energies for her pleasing addiction, which is her idealized garden. Every year new plants are bought, soil is substituted and any faded flowers are timely removed. This was a perfect fit in my eyes. Fire energy brings the necessary passion for gardening when other energies are also in line. Well, Yang Fire (Bing) is definitely born for higher purposes rather than trimming the edges of the lawn. I would expect water in his garden… a pond, a pool, a riverbed or at least a fountain, where he can satisfy his ego being able to claim over the other element. On a broader view he would go sailing, prefer holiday on a cruise ship or buy a jetski (assuming Porsche is already in the garage!) so that he can play Star Wars in a bigger dimension.
Metallic gardening
I have also thought about my parents and their affinity to gardening, which I have not experienced at all. They belong to the group of people who have been unfortunate and lived in flats, working at their desks, coping with indoor plants if at all. They both are very surprised to see me living a villager’s life and ask themselves where I have inherited this trait, as both my grandparents have also been city folks or had servants because they were higher level officers. I do know my parents very well, so I am able to extract their slightly visible gardening preferences, even if they are not gardeners.
It is not a surprise that my parents have Geng (Yang Metal) as well as Xin (Yin Metal) as their core energy. My mother never had the green thumb which is called to be the affinity to gardening. All our indoor plants were soaked or dried for some reason, so she finally decided to give them away for better care. Her favourite flower is the red wild poppy beside the fields… explaining everything in short. She has rather a terrace with tiles or all concreted and for the colouring she would hang some pictures on the walls. If she really had a garden, then it were definitely a precisely planned, gardener maintained, nothing more than necessary included garden. Maybe a stone garden, which has become rather popular in the last few years. And if she had had plants, then only a lawn with a lawn mower robotter. I see many such gardens in my neighborhood but I hold myself back and do not ring and ask their date of birth to satisfy my guessing capabillity.
My father, on the contrary, is very fond of tiny flowers in pots. He cares for them meanwhile and shares how well they have performed. It was a new experience for me to acknowledge his passion for the beauty which he had hidden probably behind his tough shell. Such a pity that l am not a flower, or could have been able to be passionate about his interests… otherwise we would have had a better relationship.
Trees, bushes, flowers & co
Wood energy is in the garden in its highest form. In Germany it is expected from a man to build a house and plant a tree before he gets children. So gardening is bound to growth in flesh and blood here in the culture, especially where I live. At the end, garden means wealth, socializing and showing off. People with wood energy use their garden for these purposes. It is not important if it looks nice, if the gardening is done and if there are nasy corners with stacked furniture or childrens toys… more important is that there is a fence around and visitors do recognize the owner and where the boundy is. Probably most of the neighbourhood disputes are caused by such wood energy… Your tree, my way, your smoke, my leaves…
Next idea I have on wood in the garden is about the chosen plants… I would not expect to find a system or combination of any kind. Plants are plants would be the attitude, meaning it is not important what is there. I would therefore not expect them to maintain their garden at all. Clovers everywhere… this would be a nightmare for me for example. (l cannot say it often enough: l hate clover.)
The whole world is a garden
Well, there is not much to say about the garden of a person with water energy. This counts for all kinds of gardens: it will flourish. At the end the whole world is open to water energy as it is everywhere, without boundaries. Best garden would be directly at the waterfront. It does not matter, if the water is the ocean, river, lake or just a pond, but it matters that nothing is in between… no need for flowers or boundaries, just the scenery would be sufficient… all in line with the built in value for freedom.
I stayed once in a B&B in Ireland on the west coast, where the bare rocky environment stood out as the perfect contrast to the waves. When I could look at this view everyday, I never would need a garden at all. I also like walking on the beach which I claim as my never ending garden… Also inlands, during my daily walks in the woods, I am drawn to the stream nearby. I stay for a while on the banks where there is a tiny waterfall. (I call this my very private spa!) Why would I need a garden, when I had the whole world at my feet?
Worthy earthy gardeners
Ok, I must skip here. I can not decide how earth energy and gardening relate together and what kind of gardening would be prefered. Probably the best gardeners are the earthy energies. I definitely need to check some BaZis of well known garden enthusiasts for my hypothesis. On the other hand it is also possible that they have enough of this sort of energy and leave this hobby to others who want to get earthed. This sounds also plausible. I am really caught between the two sides and need to do some observations and mental work on this subject. I will definitely come back and enhance my research… So keep on following, will you?
My very special bonding to gardening
My favourite art of gardening is comparable to a child, playing with sand in the playground! I don’t pay attention to flora and fauna and time spent for the hard work, but I enjoy being outdoors, connected to earth somehow. Some would call this a therapy, which is definitely true in my case – I call it balancing!
My garden is simple, I rather reduce plants and open space for naturally growing vegetation such as farns. Yes, farns are my favourite plants! For the rest, as long as it looks decent and causes less work, l would go with it. My simplicity and nature oriented attitude have been the drivers for all the gardens I have shaped so far (and this is not a few!)
Perfection of nature here within an opening farn head… Photo by @lensa.kecil21
I do spend a lot of time in the garden… As long as my hands get earthy, and I can bring value to the piece of land in front of me, I am content. It doesn’t matter if I am weeding, cleaning, moving around or digging. Even if I curse the repetitive tasks every time, l welcome the silence, being on my own, drafting my thoughts… Don’t forget: women can multitask!
At the end several essays were drafted in my mind during collecting fallen leaves in autumn or weeding clover. Gardening was the beginning of my journey in texting. You can read about this story in Soon, it is the no-leaves-day again (in German). Now that this writing about gardening is finished and published, I can work on an other one about how wallnut and philosophie interrelated are. This is a topic I have in mind for some time now… and it is not anything fact based again.
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