''You know, there are two ways of looking at gardening '', I said to some hapless person. '' Definitely many more, but these two will do for now''. I think he was looking for an exit but anyway I went on with my ramble.
I'll call the first one the physical which relates to the physical act of gardening such as weeding a garden bed or pruning a shrub. The physical also relates to the construction of a garden.
The second approach is of the mind to appreciate the wonders of a garden and its naturalness and beauty. It's our mind relaying to what draws us into the garden and the continuance of our relationship with it. And if you're lucky and understand something about Yin and Yang and its companion, Chi (qi), a garden can offer a deeper connection. When Yin and Yang are in balance and Chi flow is harmonious, we feel harmonious and at peace with ourselves being within such places.
Sounds far-fetched, but that's what you'll expect from someone like me who's a student of Feng Shui and Chi Energies. But what about testing yourself one day and go out there into the garden for about an hour before the sun sets and firstly do something physical such as weeding, some pruning, tending to vegetables, flowers or whatever then pausing and seating yourself down on your favourite garden seat and observing what's going on around you. You'll notice as the sun settles into the landscape, its shadows lengthen, the aura of your surroundings change and a balance is noticeable between light and shadows, shapes and colours, movements, smells and sounds and within yourself, the ambiance of the place will settle in on you. A feeling of harmony and contentment transcends and nature calling upon you saying, ''all's well'', maybe the sound of a bird, movement of an insect or a breeze stirring a branch somewhere above you. On such occasions Chi has come to visit you and you feel at home being within such places. Chi is an intimate thing and wants for us to find and connect with it.
We can look at the process of gardening as that of two parts and rejoice within them.
The first seeks to set the site up for harmonious interaction. It's a methodological approach which requires some hard landscaping (physical installations such as pathways, seating, and pondage of water, pagodas, retaining embankments, lighting and soft landscaping by locating the plants), a design and installation process, followed by the act of maintenance and perseverance to keep the garden presentable and how you visualise it.
The second relates to your mind being conditioned for recognising your personal connection to it including that of Chi. Suggesting Chi comes to us through our mind and its energy flowing as a product of that interaction. A site to one person is just a place and to another person a place of harmony and connectiveness. Same site but two visions for it. Conditioning the mind to recognise "Chi" and developing our "Chi mind" suggests emptying and cleansing the mind of distractions and negativity. Harmony arrives when we connect to our surroundings and those surroundings are accepted as places we want to be in, not threatened but cocooned.
The two come together as a team and harmony potentially a product. The physical part providing the frame for harmony to evolve within and the second, our minds conditioned to recognise and accept our surroundings for what they are and seeking something of connectiveness.
