There is this song the youth once sang…sign, sign, everywhere a sign. That song seemed to ring so true then. Now? Not too long ago it was a trend to repeat, “Here’s your sign”. Ah! How much time elapsed before we are now looking for a sign and not becoming inundated with them…. there is a demand for more! (My question: Have we begun to eliminate street signs thinking everyone is wired to GPS? Who needs street signs anyway? I do?)
Once the Gray Wolf was so very abundant at Yellowstone Park it was a shoot on sight kind of day, by the mid to late sixties, the Gray Wolf was all but eliminated from the park. Soon we found we needed to re-introduce them to the park as the Elk population had exploded and the Elk were grazing on all of the young and juvenile aspen, fir and other trees. The trees were not being granted the opportunity to reach maturity – hence the landscape was changing – the trees disappearing – open land being the product. The re-introduction of the Gray Wolf to Yellowstone curtailed the Elk population, which allowed the trees to begin to grow to maturity once again and slowly returned the park to its original glory. A delicate ecosystem completely changed within one decision. A driver, prevented from driving the wrong way down a one-way street, for the reason that – There was a sign. I bet they wish they had a sign before they eliminated the Gray Wolf.
Sign:
WARNING the ELIMINATION of the GRAY WOLF will be DETERIMENTAL to the ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM of the PARK & will CAUSE the DECLINE of MORE SPECIES than we HAVE ROOM for on this SIGN!! NOAH WOULD BE ASHAMED!!!
In the garden we do not always have a sign either. We depend upon others trial and error or we feel inspired to experiment on our own, some unknowingly becoming experts in their own right. There are so many stories of private innovation in the garden – One uses pantyhose to support watermelon on stakes to save room. He also feeds them sweet green tea each day – Some say they are the sweetest watermelon one will ever taste. Another will tell you the secret to great tasting tomatoes with no tough skins is to keep the watering of them as consistent as you breath in and out – He insists this is guaranteed satisfaction. Some say plant a border of garlic around the garden to keep most pests out –you will not be disappointed.
Someone had to decide to take a chance and keep chopping their mums back to figure out they could do that successfully up until mid-July to keep them form becoming leggy. Then someone else decided to run their mums over with a lawn mower to see what success they would have – it worked – the mums were no worse for wear and if let go after Mid-July will stay shorter and still bloom beautifully. Who would have known? No one until someone tried. You can do the same thing with Sedum – though I do not recommend using the lawn mower. (Some condominium associations maintenance programs do this free of charge along with the rest of your perennials).
What has you intrigued in the garden? Doesn’t something tickle your mind when you are out there? Does your garden have a door? Do you need a door to your imagination?
The door pictured above is similar to a Tibetan door that was installed recently into a courtyard garden. The young daughters of the homeowner asked if the door could be opened so they could walk through. I asked what they thought they might discover on the other side. They replied…we would not know until we walked through.
Who remembers such a feeling? Why have we forgotten?
This week: Dust off your imagination, find the door in your garden and WALK THROUGH!
Imagination is more important than knowledge – Albert Einstein –
