We live in a heavily curated world, surrounded by the lives of strangers that we would like to know. Sometimes we’re shown perfection, sometimes even perfect imperfection – a manufactured moment masquerading as complete sponteneity. You know that shot of a tantrum throwing 3 year old where the child is dressed in linen with bare feet and the situation seems relatable. It’s a weird concept.
Before hitting the ‘publish’ button, I procrastinated. A lot. There’s something inherantly hypocritical in what I’m doing. The very act of writing and choosing images, contradicts what I am attempting to express. So being mindful of the hypocrisy, I will just say there is no such thing as a perfect garden.
Obviously there are wonderful and extraordinary gardens. But gardens aren’t a frozen moment when the work was done and the light was right. As a gardener, I feel the on-going process of gardening has been hijacked to feed the beast of the perfect shot even to the extent of creating images that set people up for failure when they attempt to reproduce something they see. The portrayal of a garden as something desirable, maybe even achievable but ultimately finite, requiring no further work is disingenuous and surely, ultimately deeply disappointing.
Gardens and backyards are spaces to live in and are in a constant state of change. Plants by their very nature and through the seasons are never the same from one day to the next. are living, growing and constantly changing. They don’t behave like you think they will and their environment is effected by forces that aren’t always predictable. Plants you think should thrive, sometimes don’t. Your neighbour cuts down a tree and what was a shady spot now gets a lot of sun. There is no set and forget.
Successful gardens are unique to their location, whether that’s a balcony or a grand landscape. Their beauty is inherently associated with their context, both historically and geographically. Great gardens reflect both the people who create them and those who care for them, they change constantly – with the seasons, the weather, with use and as plants grow and fail. They are a narrative without a conclusion.