To tend a border requires not just creative expression or a visual eye for what looks good together but horticultural understanding of the plants you grow. To put a plant in the wrong place or wrong soil type can be its early demise- so ‘life or death’ is on the line. To tend a border requires aptitude.

To tend a border requires understanding of the needs of the plants in your care – how often to water, how deep or shallow its roots might go, how hungry a feeder it may or may not be – it requires commitment to care. Not just engaging your nurturing self but your attentive self. You must be present and aware when tending a border or you may miss the first signs of rust or mildew or other potential calamities. You must be vigilant to pests and also to techniques that deliver the best outcomes for your plants – deadheading, pruning, division, feeding, watering.

It is commitment of your life time; you will share your living with the gardens living, your live with it. There is a union of interaction and interdependence. You both thrive for the experience. It will require patients, a little sacrifice, a lot of hard work and also moments of pure joy.

To tend a border is an intimate engagement with life – to do it mindful is to live to the fullest.

To explore more ways of developing a mindful and full connection life within the garden and the rest of your life, check out my book SEEDS OF MINDFULNESS (IXIA PRESS)

– All good bookstores and direct from https://store.doverpublications.com/0486845389.html