ANOTHER POST IS NEAR THE CENTURY MARK, our second in 7 months here on A Way to Garden. The first was Garden No-No’s; now here comes ‘Why Do You Garden?’ to challenge its lead. Why do you garden? Is it for astonishing plants like these Martagon lilies, or for solace in troubled times, or for fresh food to stash in the freezer to get you through a long winter’s nap? All good reasons, but perhaps they are not yours. So what is it? Won’t you tell us?
‘why do you garden?’ nears 100 comments
October 25, 2008
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slideshow: bulbs in my garden 
Welcome, Lynn. All beautiful reasons, thank you. For me it’s all about the peace, too. See you soon, I hope.
It started in second grade. The teacher had each child in the class insert dried beans and moist paper towels in plastic baggies and place them flat in the classroom windowsill. I was absolutely amazed when the bean swelled and then burst open, roots stretching below and green leaves stretching above. It was like magic. I believe that is why I garden…nature for me is measurable magic. Great blog.
Welcome, LiriopePisces. “Measurable magic” is a lovely way to put it, thank you. Love that. :) Hope to see you here soon again.
Love your garden from Garden Conservancy visits, loved your talk at Plant-o-rama at BBG this week and your blog is a new delight to someone who also gardens in zone 5.
Welcome, Ann. What a triple-header of a nice comment that is! Thank you. I am glad you have found your way here, and hope that you will be a regular.
Why do I garden? I usually ask myself that some question every August–95+degs., bugs etc. (south Alabama) But I’m always right back at it. I think I’m just addicated to dirt!
Welcome, Carol. “Addicted to dirt” sounds like a good explanation. I wonder the same thing in our often hot, steamy Augusts, too, when it’s time to mow, and mow some more. Hope to see you soon again.
enjoy the beauty, enjoy the company, and enjoy the results!
Welcome, Monica. Good reasons, all of them. Glad to “meet” you and hope to see you again soon.
Hi Margaret,
I remember years ago seeing you on Martha’s TV show and thinking what a very knowledgeable person you are; always wonderful “nuggets” of information on plants.
I am new to this site but I always have lots of questions so count me in. I live in the Pacific Northwest, Vancouver BC
I love this blog. I have had a slow day at work and have enjoyed my time reading about all kinds of things. The pictures of your garden are tremedous. It reminds me that I need to purchase a new camera so I can take some pics of my garden like yours. I live on a 2.5 acre plot that was owned previously by a master gardener. My yard is ever changing. That is why I garden. I like to see the evolution of the plants during the year.
Welcome, Jill. I plan to get a new camera, too, but have hesitated and hesitated…but think I am about to make a decision. Thanks for your positive encouragement about the blog; I am glad to have you here with us. Do come again soon, and tell us how it’s going on your plot (same size as mine!).
Hi Margaret,
I just found your blog, and I think it’s wonderful! What a wealth of information, and so clearly presented. Even though this is an old post of yours, I just answered exactly this question in my first garden blog post ever, here: http://naseersiddique.com/greenthumbgeeks/2010/02/why-garden/
My wife and I look forward to your posts!
Welcome, Naseer (and Emily…I went and checked and found her name). :) I am really impressed by your seed-starting setup especially. Wow. I am glad to “meet you and hope since you are not far away that we will meet in person at some garden event here this year. See you soon!
Hi Margaret!
I’m so glad I came across your blog. What a treasure it is.
I garden for all the reasons already mentioned, it is good therapy & keeps me sane I practically live outdoors all spring, summer & fall, then I gradually wither away in the cold days of winter.
I took up gardening seriously after all my children were grown, & gone on their own. I first started a memory garden when I lost a loved one, and just kept making more flower beds all over my property. Of course I have a vegetable garden every year too, and herbs to cook with.
Welcome, Pat. You are very kind, thank you. Your story is not unlike mine; I started gardening in my 20s, when my mother was very ill. I hope that I will see you again soon here.
Hi ALL: Reg..Kid’s at mid-48′s or so given summertime fun, OT., ON at an Glebe Collegiate simple school yard, teacher’s project, [for year's] to learn gardening. Dozen’s of uncles, aunts, Mom – encourage’d me, anurban lad. To go there, did, and learned much, that radishes/carrot’s didn’t come in bunch’s, and took an ribbing for an long time, ‘fun eh’.
Stimuli, for gardening everywhere, then landscape garening my precedent later interest, less cottage influences, and highway driving..kept me in the ‘backyard haven’ of an good perrenial garden world of our own.
So, daily if need or interest prevails…I can walk out the back home door, and start on some small, or varied interest therem [to-gether], merely at no extra cost, not petrol, no second real estate taxes, etc etc, far away.
As well, my computer, has the best gardening pictures saved to my interests, near 365 day’s, which I study the names, & beauty, for betterment, appreciation.
4 Season’s, is the greatest nature ‘kicker’ I’ve seen, why so…I try hard to replicate, in ’4 small O/S garden room’s', small tri-pond’s, and an dozen meandering path’s.
Called here, Tryptich Path’s Garden. Not much, just an little plot, just an little tyme, in time and space. It seem’s like it’s alway’s, an ‘New Beginning’.
Zone 5, colder winter climate, this Canada, but late February…still, warm enough for some major, eventful garden work.
I could more easily have said: Joy, Joy, Joy.
Up here, we call those…Muskoka Chairs.
Sit, Sit, Sit….and enjoy the ambiance.
I do exactly, at 5:00 pm, everyday, need or not.
And look over the expanse, of the precious little place, and wonder, pawn is God using me, [us] to show off his beauty.
If so, then why does nobody come by!
The echo, they wish to drive, drive far away, so be it.
To-day!
Sign, k +
It just seems that it is something my soul tells me I have to do!
Welcome, Mary-Jean. Exactly! A perfect answer. Hope to see you soon again here as the season unfolds.
I garden because….
I don’t know how to paint, sketch, or sculpt,
My babies are all grown up and I must nurture,
I am a good steward of my little piece of the earth,
I love doing garden yoga (Andre is so right on),
And, quite simply, it makes me happy! So happy, in fact, that when my husband finds me hacking away at the weeds or preparing yet another flower bed, he smiles and with a wink says “You’re having another hoe-gasm aren’t you?”
Signed, A Long-time-lurker-first-time-poster who finds your blog infinitely inspiring!
Namaste
Namaste, Susan. Glad your career as a lurker has ended, and we finally “meet” officially. Thank you. Don’t make it your last, OK? :)
why do I garden? that’s a good question. I am so obsessed with it that I can’t think of anything but my garden. In the spring and early summer we don’t eat very much, nor do I go food shopping. My husband is a gem. He knows that I am lost in the art of creating, so he is charge of making sure I don’t starve or dehydrate. I often wonder if there is a support group for this all consuming addiction. When I’m not in the garden, my body and soul goes into withdrawal. Does anyone else have this problem?
Welcome, Linda, and yes, count me in. :) Glad it’s not just me that feels like that. Hope to see you here soon again; happy holiday weekend.
In the garden I am dazzled by the infinite beauty of life continuously unfolding before me. In a nutshell, I garden for the pleasure, for the learning, for the health benefits (both mental and physical), for the satisifaction & pride it brings me and for the connections it affords. In controlling, cultivating, nurturing and co-creating with nature I have forged meaningful connections with myself, with this place, with the earth, with nature, and at times even with the divine. Natures perpetual creativity, abundance, and receptivity welcomes our human interventions and lets us play along. We engage in a magical, ever evolving dance with her through the seasons, through the years and through the cycles of life that match our own. It is beautiful, and as others have said, our souls need it.
I am an installation artist and my gardening is definitely an extension of this. Currently, I have no dirt in the ground. I garden in hundreds of pots on a parking lot in Bristol, PA. I am constantly renovating, re-planting, and rearranging them. I also grow David Austin roses from bare root stock and sell them at flea markets in Bucks County. This fills in the cash flow gaps between teaching and exhibiting my work. Until recently, I worked part time at a wonderful urban demonstration farm and garden center called Greensgrow. Located in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, it is truly an amazing and unexpected place. http://www.greensgrow.org. If all I had was a tuna can with holes punched in the bottom, I’d put a liitle sempervivum in it and call it good!
Welcome, Astrid. “If all I had was a tuna can with holes punched in the bottom, I’d put a liitle sempervivum in it and call it good!” LOVE IT! It sounds wonderful, that movable botanical feast of yours; thanks for sharing the image in words. Hope to see you soon.
I garden because I can do it alone, but I can talk to almost anyone about it when I’m out and about. It’s peaceful and rewarding, but it also is a great way to start a conversation. My grandmother is ninety and I’m twenty six, but we can walk around the yard together and talk. I don’t have room for anything but pots at my apartment, but I convince my friends and family with yards to let me garden there. I share my friend’s compost heap, I grow vegetables at my parents’ place, trade plants with their neighbors, pull weeds for my granny. Also . . . I love plants!! (I’m still learning all of the names though)
Thanks, Margaret. I am enjoying reading these posts. I feel that I am among kindred spirits and glad to be here. Olga’s thoughts are beautiful and Karen, I, too, find this common ground of gardening with my sisters and mother, as you do with your grandmother. It is something we all love and can share together even though we are each so different. Thanks, everyone!
Hi Margaret,
Gardening fills an empty place in my heart and soothes my soul. There is just something wonderful about soil in my hands, feeling it with my fingertips. GLoves-pshaw.
Hi Margaret,
Every year there is always something new to try-Eight Ball Squash or new fruit plants. I was told of an all Green coneflower-must investigate further.