Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
Perhaps it is fitting that my granddaughter Charlotte Rose was born last Monday, which was Rosenmontag (Rose Monday). This day before the beginning of Lent is the highlight of the German celebration of carnival very similar to the Mardi Gras celebration held in New Orleans (and other cities in the U.S.) on Fat Tuesday. For […]
As most aspects of the garden wind down, cleaning old beds and pulling dead or soon to die plants takes priority this time of year. It has always seemed bittersweet to liberate plants from the soil right after or even during their peak. That was the case a little over a month ago at Green […]
For a variety of reasons, I wasn’t able to spend that much time this summer at Green Chimneys so it’s been good to return on a regular basis and work with a new crop of children. Of my old charges, only one is a repeat, which is bittersweet as I miss my former students while […]
The counterbalancing forces of the old and new hit hard when returning to school in September. On the old side, there is the garden, which is in the final throes of harvest and for many is ready to be put to bed for the remainder of the year. On the new side are the seedlings—students—that […]
Every time I tempt my family into the garden, I am often accused of inflicting horticultural therapy upon them. They may be right. My wife needs little prompting, as she better appreciates the diversity of plants than I and finds great solace in nature’s grasp. My daughters are a different story as when I have […]
When it comes to gardening I prefer low tech. What this translates to is that I have no electrical or gas-driven tools to help me manage the jungle. An old pair of hedge trimmers quietly snip, snip away at the forsythia. My felcos dead head tulips, day lilies and the odd hosta spike. My scythe […]
To many, a garden evokes the simple and beautiful memories of flowers in front of large cascading green plants while strains of either Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony or Vivaldi’s Four Seasons lingers in the background. And while these visions can be true, they are often counterbalanced by inordinate hours of backbreaking work that are better accompanied […]