How Does Your Garden Grow?
Posted on 19 August 2008
“Show me your garden and I shall tell you who you are.” ~ Alfred Austin
Gardens are personal. They are a reflection of who you are. The decisions you make in your garden often reflect the decisions you make in life. Take a good look at your garden and find out what it reveals about you.
Do you have a formal or an informal garden? Do you plant in evens or odds? Are your plants categorized or are they randomly placed? This says quite a bit about your management skills. A formal garden may mean that you have amazing organizational skills. It could also mean that you are a bit of a micro manager. An informal garden may mean you are much more informal and less concerned about organization and micromanagement.
Is your garden monotone with only one muted color or is it chromatic with deep rich colors? This could say something about how you see your own life and it could also reveal how much of a risk taker you are. Gardeners with monotone (or one color) gardens are usually not big risk takers. They tend to prefer the more conservative approach. On the other hand, when you see a garden full of a variety of bright colors you are most likely dealing with someone who likes to take risks and has a bit of an artistic and maybe even a bit of a rebellious nature.
Is your garden organic? Does it have seeds waiting to be harvested? Is it teaming with evidence of life? Or does it lack life due to synthetic chemical sprays and overzealous pruning? This not only reveals how ecologically minded you are, it might reveal whether you are a person who cares more about appearances and quick fixes than you do about future consequences.
Is your garden full of weeds or is it neatly manicured and cared for? This could say quite a bit about your attentiveness and procrastination levels as well as your responsibility level. Most gardens will have weeds to some extent but if weeds are taking over your garden there is a good chance you are a bit inattentive and a procrastinator with maybe a slight lack of responsibility. However, if your garden is over-manicured, this could mean that you may have a little bit of obsessiveness.
Gardens reveal much about the gardener. Maybe, even more than we realize. The good thing about gardens and your life is that if you don’t like what you see you can always change it.