Time and the Garden
Time and the Garden
The Forgotten Element of Garden Design
Time and the Garden
The Forgotten Element of Garden Design
In 1960, Johnny Cash released an album that included a song called 'Time Changes Everything.' Cash's ballad reveals how time has changed the way he cares for his loved one- that over time, his love for her has changed.
So is the case in the garden. Time changes everything.
When we talk about garden design, we think a lot about color, texture, form, balance, harmony, and unity. We rarely think about time.
Time is as much a part of the elements of designing a garden as symmetry, line, and the very plants we use themselves. The great thing about designing a garden as opposed to painting or sculpting, is that our work of art changes.
Our media consists of living creatures, creatures that grow, develop, and change. No matter how artful the landscape plan looks, with its pleasing graphics and brilliant colors, the garden itself won't remain static as the drawing does.
The nature of nature is to change. Time alters our intentions by expanding a plant's reach- its branches shading areas that weren't covered before at planting.
When you consider the effects of time on your landscape and in your garden, it's important to remember three ways in which your garden will change.
1. Over time, plants grow.
It goes without saying that plants are living organisms and, as with all forms of life, plants will grow. Cells develop and divide. Roots reach further out into the soil. Branches extend further and further away from the earth.
As plants grow, they may crowd and shade each other- demanding pruning and training to maintain their original intent. Once loosely planted azaleas may become a dense thicket of blossoming branches.
This change with time should be taken into consideration before any planting hole is cut out into the earth. If one is looking
for a "low-maintenance" landscape, as seems to be all the rage these days, then we must not plant too densely initially or plant over-sized plants near the house.
However, if you are looking for complete coverage of the earth to aid in reducing weeds, then you can embrace this aspect of time and plant things snuggly so they create a dense blanket over the planting space.
We should never fear the mature sizes of plants. If we research and discover how large our desired plants will grow, then we can better place them in the landscape so that within a decade or two, we are even more excited about their existence than on the day we planted them.
2. Over time, plants die.
We've already committed to the understanding that plants are living organisms and along with that truth comes another, more unfortunate truth. All plants die.
Just like animals, bacteria, and ourselves, plants too have a life-expectancy. Of course, this life-expectancy can be shortened by the presence of pathogens that eat away at the life-giving substances a plant possesses.
Time changes the existence of plants in our gardens because, eventually, they will come to an end. Of course, some plants we know are only temporary residents in our garden beds. Annual plants, such as petunias, begonias, and pansies, grow from a seed, produce seed, and wither away all in a single year.
Perennials are meant to be garden tenants a bit longer perhaps living three, five, or more years- assuming they don't succumb to disease. If they are left to become overgrown and never properly divided, their life-expectancy will shorten. Despite how long a perennial plant actually lives in the garden, eventually, it will pass on.
Lastly, shrubs and trees are meant to be the longest survivors in the garden- hopefully surpassing the gardener who planted them. Even though a tree lives for many years, I have seen many suddenly die, knocked over during strong storms, and some slowly fade away by the encroachment of disease into their living tissues.
A gardener loves his plants. He cares for them and cultivates them. A gardener also knows that these plants won't last forever. Time changes everything.
3. Over time, all things change.
It's not just the fact that plants grow and die which makes time such an important aspect of designing our garden spaces. Our tastes change as well. A plant that was once fashionable, falls out of favor and is replaced. An area that once was meadow might need to become a space for entertaining. This is just a part of the human experience in our landscapes. Families grow and so does the need for more recreational area.
Plant breeders and developers are no help when it comes to time changing things in the garden. It seems that each year a new azalea, a new rose, and new perennials are being released with anticipation and excitement. We shouldn't be upset about this but should embrace the introduction of new plant varieties and cultivars with passion!
However, we do need to accept that our plant choices will change over time and we will need more space or removal of older, undesired plants from the planting spaces. It would be a boring garden if our tastes didn't change or new plants never introduced to it.
Gardens are a work of art. Unlike the fine arts of old, gardens are not and should not be static, unchanged. Unlike paintings and sculptures, the garden is full of life. Just like the changes and fluctuations of life, we should be prepared to embrace the adjustments in the landscape that come with it.
In Johnny Cash's 1960's ballad, he sings that "time has passed I've forgotten, mother nature does wonderful things." When we understand and embrace the effects of time upon our gardens, with mother nature's help, our garden will be "wonderful things."