Читать книгу The Organic Garden - Allan Shepherd - Страница 13

Make gardens for people as well as for plants and animals. Gardens are not just for wildlife or food production. They are social spaces too and need to be designed for humans.

As a gardener I’m most interested in atmosphere, purpose and technique – what a garden feels like to be in, what it will be used for and how I can make it work horticulturally. We need a garden to do different things for us. A garden space does not just cater for one emotion or for one person or activity. It must mean different things for us at different times. For me a garden is a foil to my ever-changing moods. It’s a social space when I want it to be. A quiet space whenever I need it. A place to be active. A place to be still. A sanctuary. An invigorator. One male reviewer of my last book called it too feminine for any red-blooded Englishman. I wasn’t offended by the criticism. His wife loved it.

I’m altogether comfortable with my feminine side. A garden requires a long-term commitment to care and nurture. You can get all macho about gardening, but I think it’s a mistake. If your only relationship with a garden is to do with strength and posturing, you might as well abandon subtlety, suggestion and the idea that a garden can cater for more than one mood.