•voices
W W W .J U S T O U T .C O M
V
Pride In The Garden,
every mursoay,
all summer long, we have a party,
a barbecue, and one-on-one
advice from gardening
rts! You're invited!
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Fart 1: A garden alive
There’s a garden I visit several times a
year, and have been doing so since it first
began over 15 years ago. It’s one of my fa
vorite gardens to visit, so thoughtfully de
signed and planned, with plants blooming
or providing interest throughout the year. I
always discover something new, and note
the changes, additions and growth. In par
ticular is a Camperdown Elm, tiny when
first planted but now large enough for me to
enter its secret canopy and hide from the
outside among its branches hanging down
to the ground.
Ibis last visit, I noticed something I hadn’t
before. In the brush, at the back, was a small
rabbit. It could have been a bunny, but there
it was. It hopped forward and to another
area to nibble in. My friend and I stood
mesmerized at the encounter. Yes, it’s a
country garden, but neither of us had seen a
rabbit in a garden before. And then my eyes
began to really open up to it all.
Above us, birds flitted from tree under
story to branch, chirping and announcing
their arrival. Bees buzzed in the early rose
blooms. As we turned a corner, glossy spot
ted blackbirds lit up a patch of grass, eagerly
digging about in it for whatever golden bits
they were catching there. This garden was
alive—alive with plants, and growth, blooms
and spring, insects and animals. I could feel
how it alive it was, literally buzzing with life.
And in that moment I knew the reason for
this magic: There were no harmful pesticides
or chemicals being used in this garden. Pes-
This coleus has obviously come out of
the closet.
ticides that would kill the bugs the birds
would be eating. Chemicals that would kill
the weeds the rabbits were known to forage
on. This garden was alive with life of flora
and fauna, and it was this symbiotic rela
tionship that was being allowed to flourish
and thrive here. The aliveness was palpable.
The commitment to gardening chemical-
free is not always visible. Some nonbelievers
think it means you will have sickly plants or
infestations and swarms of insects. I have
yet to see that happen. What I saw in this
favorite garden was a commitment to nature
and beauty. It was also a commitment to
creating a truly special garden, and decisions
made that moved beyond the space itself, for
the betterment of the earth—a pride of
H
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LEANN LOCHER
As Told In Three Parts
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