Green fingers

My once-green fingers are now long gone, replaced with a team of trusty helpers who arrive monthly to mow, sow, and sort things that I would have once relished (a big ‘thank you’ to them for the job they do!).

You see, way, way back, I was a committed and dedicated gardener. I took pride in being able to recite the botanical names of many of the trees and plants we inherited in the homes we lived in.

I’d plant out big pots of annuals and bulbs, and I’d make regular pilgrimages to the Botanic Gardens to learn and look for new inspiration.

Where did all of that go?

I think, on reflection, it got buried somewhere between ‘I’m too busy’ and ‘it all feels too hard’, but the reality is I’m not, and it isn’t.

So, where do I start, and how do I recapture that most human of feelings, the desire to get your hands dirty?

My deepest inspiration is my grandparents. My nana had the most exquisite garden, packed and planted with flowers that are today making a resurgence: dahlias, poppies, hydrangeas, roses – old and new – lily of the valley, and little blue forget-me-nots.

All of these beauties would make the journey from the garden to the vase, and I can honestly not remember a time when flowers weren’t present in the meticulously kept state house my beloved grandparents lived in all their lives.

Equally, my grandfather’s vegetables fed his family, children, and grandchildren throughout the years, and that was long before our love for the words ‘organic’ and ‘homegrown’ evolved.

My parents have maintained these traditions and surpluses from their abundant garden find their way into local ‘help yourself’ stalls as well as being dropped off at our home and office.

In this busy, mad, sad, sometimes bad world of ours, the most calming thing any of us can do is to breathe in the fresh air and beauty that surrounds us when we are in or working on a green space. The setting doesn’t have to be grand, large, or even meticulous. The experience can be as simple as sitting under a tree, planting herbs, or walking in your or someone else’s garden.

It’s a panacea for many of the pressures that life can throw at us and well worth the effort.

So, I’m going to rekindle my gardening genes, roll my sleeves up and welcome the tasks an autumn garden requires.

I just have to ask my dad what those are.