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Home > Flower and garden articles > Time Out
Time Out
 It takes quite a bit of physical endurance to be a gardener, but it’s something that any serious gardener doesn’t even think twice about when it comes to achieving what you want within the world of your own garden. Yes, your hands get sore, and your back aches (because it doesn’t have a hinge!) and your knees are complaining, but how satisfying it is at the end of a long hard day to stand back and enjoy your handiwork.
Although you’re tired and sweaty, there’s dirt stuck in your fingernails, leaves stuck in your hair and big scratches on your arms and legs from the thorns on the roses, what an amazing array of experiences for the senses are at your (dirty!) fingertips!
When we look at our gardens, as gardeners we tend to focus on the areas that we’ve neglected, and the bits that need fixing, and the tidying up that we never quite seem to find the time for. Indeed, it’s always a race against the clock, and there are only so many hours of punishment that our poor old aching bodies can take, after all.
And because we get so engrossed in trying to get everything done, it’s not often that we have the luxury of time enough to actually enjoy the flowers and fruits of our labours.
So now that we are into those long, hot days of summer, and the heat of the day makes it too much like hard work to get on with those gardening jobs, we should remember to take time out, stand back and take in the joy of our gardens in a new light, as though we were seeing them for the very first time.
The unique beauty of an individual flower can be almost a total sensory experience. See it, touch it, smell it and even taste it! So I have some suggestions for you, to help you experience your garden on another level. Take the time to ...
Cup a newly opened rose in your hands and inhale its heady perfume.
See the beauty and richness of the bright colours of a humble pansy.
Smell the clean freshness in the air after a summer downpour, and the heady perfume of the lavender bushes and jasmines in the balmy summer evenings.
Pick a few leaves from the trusty old lemon tree and rub them in your hands to release that clean citrus scent.
Listen to the breezes moving gently through the tree branches, and the rustling of the tall grasses and bamboo as they sway.
Stop and look at the thrilling colours of rosellas and parrots as they flash across your garden like brilliant rainbows. As a new Australian, the wonder of wild parrots visiting my garden will never cease to amaze me!
Here’s a few ideas to help make your garden a treat for your senses ...
Plant deliciously fragrant herbs along a busy garden path, so that every time you walk by they will brush against your legs and send their spicy aromas into the air.
Create a water feature, even if it’s only in a small corner of your garden. The sound of trickling water on a hot summers day is so soothing, and if you plant some tropical foliage close by you’ll soon have your own cool oasis!
Plant grevilleas, chinese lanterns and phygelias to attract the many honeyeaters into your garden, and be delighted by their bright feathers and busy chitter chatter.
When did you last walk bare foot across the lawn? When did you last lie on your back under a shady tree and gaze up at the wonder of its canopy against the sky? These are things that we all remember doing when were children, but now that we’re adults we seem to have forgotten these simple pleasures.
So make a note to treat all of your senses to the pleasures of gardening, and enjoy! And when you’ve done all of that, grab yourself a favourite chair and a cool drink, and take a well earned rest under a shady tree.
If you’re like me, you’ll probably lie there daydreaming about all those jobs in the garden that you haven’t quite gotten around to doing just yet! Oh well, there’s always next year.....
Jenny Waldock (mail order administration)
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