The Zen Garden 1
Please sit, settle yourself, relax and take the time to enjoy these two threads. You may wish to return to them a few times to let your own thoughts wander through the stories. It is not meant to be rushed. There?s no need to read it all at once.
I would like to share my garden and its contemplations with you, and for you to relax and let your imagination wander with the themes the garden offers.
If it doesn?t hold your interest, then gently leave it. It is of no consequence. (Ooohh Irishlady, it?s a very long one, sorry.)
This is in a way a meditation for you to enjoy. It presents numerous little ideas, thoughts and contemplations, all bound up in two simple stories? building a zen garden on my front lawn, and some of the themes that the garden represents.
This first thread is the preamble if you like, introducing the block of land and the animals, and the start of the garden. The second thread is the garden itself, and some of the themes that it represents.
With each scene that the tale presents, just close your eyes for a moment and visualize it, then return to the story. It is not meant to be hurried. It is a relaxation.
I live on a fairly slopy block of land and the only level ground is just out along the front of the house. When we moved in it was a nicely manicured kikuyu lawn.
But I changed all that and made it into a veggie patch. The neighbours couldn?t understand why I?d want to dig up a water hungry, labour intensive lawn and turn it into an ugly straggly veggie patch which was visited by birds, rats, bees, possums, butterflies snails and slugs, which all ate their share and left a little bit for me and Mr. Rags to nibble (Gee it would be nice if the animals had the understanding of eating a whole tomato rather than a single bite out of every tomato though.)
Before we moved in I think the neighbours had originally had visions of winning the municipal council ?street of the month award? with their neatly manicured over fertilized, water hungry lawns. And the Sunday morning 7 am lawnmowers. Regularly. Every Sunday. About seven going all at once. 80 hertz drone at 80 db. In the key of G major
The careful putting the clippings in a bin, not spreading them on their garden or back onto the lawn to replenish the nutrients they?d just mown up?. but that?s another story for another time for my permaculture leanings.
However, a while ago I asked my neighbour across the street to please feel free to throw his clippings on my front shrubs. Which he does. So, a part of my earth is being revitalized and nourished by the waste from my neighbour. At least with this ongoing drought and water restrictions, some of the lawn mowing and watering has diminished.
On with the story??.
Meanwhile, I planted heaps of native trees, shrubs and some native grasses, stopped mowing the remaining grass, installed a couple of ponds and sat back and watched the thriving micro environments spring to life. If only the rats were antichinuses. However you can?t have everything, but gee it would be nice if they (the rats) stayed out of my ceiling. Beautiful red bellied black snakes occasionally come in to drink at the bowls of water I leave round the garden. About 20 minutes ago a baby snake was having a drink at one of the ponds. Sometimes they catch a small mouse or a Perrons tree frog from the ponds. ( Poor things, they are so low on the food chain? but? a sign of a healthy garden). Lots of spider webs appeared. Dragon flies, cicadas, Southern boobook owls (well two for a little while), an echidna, a swamp wallaby and 42 species of bird now visit or live in and around my garden. This all happened on a suburban block surrounded on one side by houses and cleared land on the other. It is pleasing to see.
I know when I leave, the house will be pulled down, the land cleared and a block of townhouses or apartments will take up all the space. And this little artificial niche, this tiny breathing space I created will be gone, and there is nowhere else for these animals to go. They will all die out. The cycle continues. Hmm? wasn?t there a song a while ago about paradise and a parking lot?
Now to the main story. The veggie patch did get pretty bedraggled so I moved it up the back after chopping down the liquid amber (they are bad news they are in OZ) to let light in. This left the front terrace open for me to build a little contemplation garden along zen lines, but with a distinct Australian theme. I?d been thinking about it for a few months and in my mind?s eye I knew what I wanted.
?Aussie contemplation garden! Goodo, let?s hook into it? thinks me. ?I can do this in a couple of days?. Har Har Har??as I was to find out.
Well, my mate Peter helped me dig and level and lay out the design for the garden. He was buzzed out when I told him the interconnecting themes I wanted in it as he has studied Zen garden design, but is a whiz bang permaculture garden design person. So, here?s the garden under construction.
Well, it had to have a gum tree ? something quintessentially Australian that would give beauty to the garden, be pleasing to the eye, and provide food for the creatures of the wild. I chose a hybrid red flowering gum tree. Laden with masses of beautiful vivid red flowers, it provides food and nectar for birds, possums, bees and butterflies.
Buddha sits under the tree protected from sun and rain, on a carpet of fallen blossoms. And my Buddha nature shares the tranquility and happiness of this place.
Little wrens sometimes alight on his shoulder, resting for a moment from their search for insects. And my bantams have taken the occasional inquisitive peck at him to see if he is edible. Sometimes when I am very still just sitting or standing in my garden, with not a lot happening inside my head, I too have had a bird alight on my shoulder and rest for a few moments before again taking flight. What a privilege. What a wonderful feeling of being with nature.
This ends the first part of the story. The next thread I would like to share with you winds through the themes and contemplations of my OZZEN GARDEN.
Sorry the pics didn't happen. Hopefully they'll appear in the next thread.
Fran.
(The computer illiterate). Attached files [img]/converted_files/7579=844-attachment.jpg[/img]
Please sit, settle yourself, relax and take the time to enjoy these two threads. You may wish to return to them a few times to let your own thoughts wander through the stories. It is not meant to be rushed. There?s no need to read it all at once.
I would like to share my garden and its contemplations with you, and for you to relax and let your imagination wander with the themes the garden offers.
If it doesn?t hold your interest, then gently leave it. It is of no consequence. (Ooohh Irishlady, it?s a very long one, sorry.)
This is in a way a meditation for you to enjoy. It presents numerous little ideas, thoughts and contemplations, all bound up in two simple stories? building a zen garden on my front lawn, and some of the themes that the garden represents.
This first thread is the preamble if you like, introducing the block of land and the animals, and the start of the garden. The second thread is the garden itself, and some of the themes that it represents.
With each scene that the tale presents, just close your eyes for a moment and visualize it, then return to the story. It is not meant to be hurried. It is a relaxation.
I live on a fairly slopy block of land and the only level ground is just out along the front of the house. When we moved in it was a nicely manicured kikuyu lawn.
But I changed all that and made it into a veggie patch. The neighbours couldn?t understand why I?d want to dig up a water hungry, labour intensive lawn and turn it into an ugly straggly veggie patch which was visited by birds, rats, bees, possums, butterflies snails and slugs, which all ate their share and left a little bit for me and Mr. Rags to nibble (Gee it would be nice if the animals had the understanding of eating a whole tomato rather than a single bite out of every tomato though.)
Before we moved in I think the neighbours had originally had visions of winning the municipal council ?street of the month award? with their neatly manicured over fertilized, water hungry lawns. And the Sunday morning 7 am lawnmowers. Regularly. Every Sunday. About seven going all at once. 80 hertz drone at 80 db. In the key of G major
The careful putting the clippings in a bin, not spreading them on their garden or back onto the lawn to replenish the nutrients they?d just mown up?. but that?s another story for another time for my permaculture leanings.
However, a while ago I asked my neighbour across the street to please feel free to throw his clippings on my front shrubs. Which he does. So, a part of my earth is being revitalized and nourished by the waste from my neighbour. At least with this ongoing drought and water restrictions, some of the lawn mowing and watering has diminished.
On with the story??.
Meanwhile, I planted heaps of native trees, shrubs and some native grasses, stopped mowing the remaining grass, installed a couple of ponds and sat back and watched the thriving micro environments spring to life. If only the rats were antichinuses. However you can?t have everything, but gee it would be nice if they (the rats) stayed out of my ceiling. Beautiful red bellied black snakes occasionally come in to drink at the bowls of water I leave round the garden. About 20 minutes ago a baby snake was having a drink at one of the ponds. Sometimes they catch a small mouse or a Perrons tree frog from the ponds. ( Poor things, they are so low on the food chain? but? a sign of a healthy garden). Lots of spider webs appeared. Dragon flies, cicadas, Southern boobook owls (well two for a little while), an echidna, a swamp wallaby and 42 species of bird now visit or live in and around my garden. This all happened on a suburban block surrounded on one side by houses and cleared land on the other. It is pleasing to see.
I know when I leave, the house will be pulled down, the land cleared and a block of townhouses or apartments will take up all the space. And this little artificial niche, this tiny breathing space I created will be gone, and there is nowhere else for these animals to go. They will all die out. The cycle continues. Hmm? wasn?t there a song a while ago about paradise and a parking lot?
Now to the main story. The veggie patch did get pretty bedraggled so I moved it up the back after chopping down the liquid amber (they are bad news they are in OZ) to let light in. This left the front terrace open for me to build a little contemplation garden along zen lines, but with a distinct Australian theme. I?d been thinking about it for a few months and in my mind?s eye I knew what I wanted.
?Aussie contemplation garden! Goodo, let?s hook into it? thinks me. ?I can do this in a couple of days?. Har Har Har??as I was to find out.
Well, my mate Peter helped me dig and level and lay out the design for the garden. He was buzzed out when I told him the interconnecting themes I wanted in it as he has studied Zen garden design, but is a whiz bang permaculture garden design person. So, here?s the garden under construction.
Well, it had to have a gum tree ? something quintessentially Australian that would give beauty to the garden, be pleasing to the eye, and provide food for the creatures of the wild. I chose a hybrid red flowering gum tree. Laden with masses of beautiful vivid red flowers, it provides food and nectar for birds, possums, bees and butterflies.
Buddha sits under the tree protected from sun and rain, on a carpet of fallen blossoms. And my Buddha nature shares the tranquility and happiness of this place.
Little wrens sometimes alight on his shoulder, resting for a moment from their search for insects. And my bantams have taken the occasional inquisitive peck at him to see if he is edible. Sometimes when I am very still just sitting or standing in my garden, with not a lot happening inside my head, I too have had a bird alight on my shoulder and rest for a few moments before again taking flight. What a privilege. What a wonderful feeling of being with nature.
This ends the first part of the story. The next thread I would like to share with you winds through the themes and contemplations of my OZZEN GARDEN.
Sorry the pics didn't happen. Hopefully they'll appear in the next thread.
Fran.
(The computer illiterate). Attached files [img]/converted_files/7579=844-attachment.jpg[/img]
Comment