Coming Back to the Garden | Marcus Bergin's Garden Notebook
REFLECTIONS
Marcus Bergin
7/6/20262 min read
Coming Back to the Garden
Sometimes the garden reminds us that, however much we love being outdoors, there are moments when the wisest thing we can do is stop.
For the first time in quite a while, I found myself looking at gardens from the wrong side of the window.
Like many gardeners, I'm much happier outside than indoors. My working days are normally spent walking across lawns, kneeling beside borders and noticing the small changes that seem to happen almost overnight at this time of year. It's a rhythm I've grown used to over many years, so when something unexpectedly interrupts it, the change feels surprisingly strange.
For a few days, I had little choice but to rest.
At first, I found that rather frustrating. Every gardener knows that July doesn't slow down simply because we do. The roses continue to flower, the lawns continue to grow and the weeds certainly don't decide to take a few days off in sympathy. From the window I could see the garden carrying on exactly as it always had, completely unaware that I wasn't out there with it.
Then something occurred to me.
The garden wasn't waiting for me.
Nature never does.
The bees still found the lavender, birds still visited the borders and each morning brought another small change that had nothing to do with my plans. There was something quietly reassuring about that. We sometimes imagine that gardens depend entirely on us, but the truth is they're wonderfully capable of getting on with life. Our care helps them flourish, but the garden has a rhythm all of its own.
Perhaps that's why a few days away can be surprisingly valuable.
Returning after even a short break, I noticed things I'd probably have walked straight past before. A rose that had opened while I'd been indoors. A border looking fuller than I remembered. The familiar sound of bees working through the flowers on a warm morning. It was as though I'd been given a fresh pair of eyes simply by stepping away for a little while.
As gardeners, we're often encouraged to keep busy. There's always another job waiting, another plant to stake or another patch of weeds asking for attention. Yet I've come to realise that gardens don't measure our worth by how many hours we spend working in them. Sometimes they simply ask us to be present.
This morning, as I picked up my tools again, I felt something I perhaps don't appreciate often enough.
Gratitude.
Gratitude for being able to return to the work I enjoy, for the simple pleasure of feeling the grass beneath my boots once more and for another chance to spend the day outdoors. It's easy to take those ordinary moments for granted until, for a short while, they're taken away.
Gardening has always had a way of putting life into perspective.
The jobs I thought were urgent last week are still there, waiting patiently. They'll be done in good time. The important thing is that I'm back, enjoying the fresh air, listening to the birds and once again sharing my days with gardens that continue to surprise me.
Sometimes a short pause is all it takes to remind us why we loved something in the first place.
Today, it was enough to remind me just how fortunate I am to call this my work.
Marcus
