Play In The Garden

I went to a creativity workshop yesterday and the theme was Play. As grownups, do we play? What does play feel like now compared to when we were kids? How can we play more in our lives? I thought of my garden and how I can play in my garden and how my garden can be more playful.

I want to get away from thinking of garden as all the tasks that need to be done. Yes, I need to weed but as I weed do I notice any worms? What does the soil feel like? Smell like? The answers may lead to more tasks like watering or adding compost but in that moment, I really want to experience what I see and feel around me. Maybe when I’m done weeding, I notice an empty space that can use a plant or a piece of garden art. Or the space may need to be left alone to allow plants to spread or air to circulate.

This coming season, I want to spend more time enjoying the garden rather than just working in the beds. I want to sit and read in the garden. Entertain family and friends. I want to start my day outside as the garden wakes up and enjoy the evening light outside as darkness fall. And where I live, this can be closer to 10 p.m. at the height of summer.

I want to walk around and take photos with a camera. Framing a piece of the garden in a camera lens helps me experience the details in the garden that I miss looking at the whole landscape. I can see the various shades of green of a fern or hosta leaf. How yellow and blue and red flowers interact. Maybe I can capture a bee or butterfly feeding in my garden.

I am the point where I will be adding more pots and planters in the garden. The forest landscape is not conducive to putting in beds since the gardens are very shady and I’m not willing to cut down trees. I will place pots where there is sun and grow tomatoes and herbs. I’ve seen beautiful container gardens. I may end up transplanting hostas to pots if the resident rabbit mows my hostas down. I love the container gardens I saw in Italy but those were in very sunny areas and I would need to protect any terra cotta pots in the winter since we get way below zero and the snow if heavy.

Writing this blog post has helped me visualize a new way to garden that can be beautiful and play filled. Time to look for some pots and play with color combinations to see what plants I may want to garden.