There would be several gardens on my bucket list if I had the time and someone to go with to see. Although for all the global globetrotting there's something to be said about there being 'no place like home'. For one thing, no flying monkeys, evil witches and questionable wizards. But then... Dorothy's world was pretty bleak, she just went back to black and white and from what I gather about Kansas and the Midwest Dakota prairies the dust storms totally ruined people's lives and making a living was nigh impossible.
The thing is. I can't ask anyone else to make a garden for me. That's not my remit. I am a creator. I need to do things myself because nobody will teach me otherwise. Thats why its hard to garden for someone else, sure I can help, sure I can weed but at the end of the day, that's their garden not mine they are the ones who will need to tend it and live in it.
I've often gardened for people that don't have time or they broke a leg and can't bend down, or are ill. But the thing is their gardens need to be the kind where they can set it up for the amount of time they are willing to spend on it. This is great if they have planted it themselves because a garden becomes yours when YOU plant it. If someone can't bend down it's no use trying to make a huge garden from the ground the best thing is to install a raised garden or just do pots or even table top tiny gardens.
Don't make a rod for your own back is what I'm saying. I've seen people as they get older and can't do much anymore then complain they can't do their garden anymore. My personal opinion of that is if you need help, ask for helpers and use your garden as s teaching garden because so many of young people today are deprived of land and they cannot even dream of owning a piece of it, let alone caring for it.
One day you will no longer be here. You cannot ask someone else to carry on gardening and just expect them to do it according to how you want if you haven't taught them in the first place. Otherwise just let them have free reign.
I thought of Monet who was a gardener first before he was ever a painter. He created his colourful flower garden with shimmer effects and waterlily ponds just so he could paint them. He gardened in Giverny, France for the rest of his life. He employed gardeners yes and even had some gardeners live on his property so they could garden full time. When he died the garden fell into neglect and there were no funds to carry on and pay the gardeners, but wealthy american benefactors saved this garden from ruin and it is now restored to its former glory and open to the public, with people coming to paint and enjoy what Monet had created. Perhaps the original vision is not quite the same as plants grow and die and things change. But one has to allow for that. But the thing is he lived for his garden. Even when he couldn't see anymore. It wasn't just the visual aspects of it, it would be the sense of place, the peace, and the simple act of creating that was more than just the look of it.
I thought of this as I was creating this garden thinking why am I doing this..and then I thought why did God plant a garden and ask Adam and Eve to dress it and keep it, they did not plant it themselves.
I think God had planted this garden so He could hang out with Adam and Eve forever as the walked in the garden in the cool of the day with His presence amongst the trees.
Unfortunately, they were just useless at plant ID thanks to the confusion and lies of the serpent. Oh this fruit is not poisonous sure we can eat it! I think of this whenever someone tries to tell me Roundup is safe and nobody has ever died from exposure to it. Anyway they were both banished from the garden and thus sentenced to become child bearers and farmers, tilling the ground. If there's one thing I know farming and growing crops is not the same thing as gardening which is why when I was asked to hoe a bed I looked blankly at my former boss as I had never used a hoe before. He was asking me to bash up the soil into crumbs so it would look good. Needless to say I was useless at this task and wanted to pick flowers instead and make the plants pretty not bash up the soil. After picking through many thistles and thorns I thought well this wasn't fun at all and not my idea of gardening!
