Formal education, while important, doesnāt always translate to success or happiness in life. Education, whether it is at the primary, secondary, or post-secondary level offers us a chance to interact with peers, learn from teachers and create lifelong memories. True education, though, I would argue comes outside of the four walls of a classroom. While I absolutely loved my time at Texas A & M University, I can honestly say that I only use a small portion of what I learned from my professors. In the decades since graduation, it is what I learned from gardeners and gardening that has been my true enlightenment.
Working in the outside classroom of the garden offers many practical life lessons, enriches our spirit, and often results in beauty being added to the landscape.
1) Hard work pays off. There is no better place to learn that hard work leads to rewards than a flower or vegetable garden full of weeds. Weeds steal necessary nutrients from valuable plants. The wanted plants will grow stronger when the weeds are removed.
2) We are capable of more than we realize. While outdoor chores can be difficult, we are often up to the task. Always make sure to prioritize your health though when working outdoors.
3) Living things die. Sometimes, no matter how well we care for them, plants die. Usually, it is through no fault of the owner. Loss is difficult but we must move on and try again.
4) Be grateful for the rain. Rain and even snow provide life-saving water to our plants. As there was not much snow this winter, it is up to us to begin hand watering our plants this spring.
5) Saying something positive makes a difference. Studies have shown that talking positively to plants much like people makes them grow healthier. A kind word costs nothing.
6) Optimism is important. The very act of installing a new plant in your yard is an example of optimism. Thinking ahead, planning for the future, whether it is long or short, is much more pleasurable when we embrace optimism.
7) Patience is an acquired skill. Plants grow at their own pace. Yes, we can help by providing the necessary nutrients, but ultimately our trees will provide shade in due course and our flowers will bloom when they are ready.
8) Embrace resilience. Our plants experience whatever the weather throws at them; blazing hot sun in the summer and arctic cold winds in the winter. Generally, they recover. If they donāt, itās up to us to be resilient and replace them as necessary.
9) Changing perspective helps. Rabbits can be the bane of a gardenerās existence. They eat and reproduce nonstop. By evaluating our garden from a rabbitās perspective and working to repel rabbits using one of their senses we can help the rabbits find another ārestaurantā at which to feast.
10) It is okay to be alone. Spending time outside can be a very meditative experience. Restoring our soul is just as important as healing our physical bodies.
11) Paying it forward. Our landscaping may contain a variety of flowers. Picking a few of them as gifts to neighbors, friends or relatives allows us to share the beauty of our yard with others.
12) You get what you put in. As with life, the outside of our homes, requires work. Just as we clean the inside, at times we need to clean the outside. Pruning, weeding, and mulching now will make a huge difference throughout the summer and fall.
Vita Sackville-West best portrayed the symbiotic relationship between education and gardening in this quote: āThe more one gardens, the more one learns. And the more one learns, the more one realizes how little one knows.ā We are all learning, growing and gardening together.
Kathleen Carr is the owner of The Growing Scene, Inc.,a landscaping company. She can be reached by calling 815-923-7322 or emailing her at Kathleen@thegrowingscene.com. Have a gardening question? Please contact her. She may address it in an upcoming column.
