Some green to stare at

If you had a piece of earth the size of one plant container, or up to many hectares to plant a garden that will please your soul, what will you do with it? Which plants to choose? What effect to create?

If you do what your neighbour does your soul will remain in rest, unaffected. If you ask a professional to do it for you, it may reflect the expression of the professional’s soul, but not necessarily, because he or she may have been studying you for clues. Or just doing a job!

If you do it yourself, you may fail and never try again. Or keep trying forever and gradually approximate your vision. Of course, the vision changes and so your garden must. Although perfection is elusive, the search is an option reflecting particular life values.

If replicating nature would be perfection, the diversity of nature, its cycles and continual drifting to something different will create many questions. This spot in Kirstenbosch has more diversity than you would find in nature and also less. It is not nature, it is garden. It reflects thought and skill, maybe bits of the souls of many who worked there over time. To some it might hold magic, to others not.

Now, if you had…