I’m never going to get a job working on one of those TV gardening shows. For one, I’m more of a behind-the-scenes kinda girl. Then there’s my problem with makeovers.
It’s not the armies of landscapers and horticulturists descending on a property that get my goat.
I’m not bothered so much that so many makeovers end up looking the same. Water feature, something to hide the fence, a patch of lawn for the kids (sorry, I couldn’t help myself). I’m not even bothered by the pair of architectural plants to add pizzazz, the mulch and the newly laid deck hosed down just before the cameras roll.
What REALLY bugs me is the frantic ripping out of the old and the in with the new.
You see, I’ve always had a tough time ripping out a plant because it doesn’t fit or isn’t growing well. I’d rather transplant the thing to a different spot or give it away than throw it out. Throwing it out seems such a waste.
Even now, I have an old rosebush that isn’t in keeping with the rest of the garden, but I’m letting it live out its natural days. Those days will probably stretch into months, maybe years. So, plans for another vegie patch in its spot will have to wait.
The same with an orange tree that’s beyond its prime but is still producing fruit. Plans for a veranda where the orange tree now stands will have to wait.
Even though these plants and others like it are not ‘perfect’, they still have value, if not so much for me, then for birds, insects or to create shade for other plants.
They also form such an integral part of my imperfect garden that to remove them in a rush would leave too big a hole.
I guess I can afford this luxury of time, of letting plants run their natural course, because I’m not in a rush to stamp my authority on a patch of land.
I have all the time in the world to watch the way the light falls, where water collects and where the wind whips up. Meanwhile, who knows that plants will come my way, scream ‘buy me’ at the garden centre, or will jump out of a book or website to inspire me?
I’m happy to wait.
And waiting is not a concept you hear about in gardening makeover shows.
