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- Herausgeber: Farzana Prior
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
Gardening can be a very rewarding hobby, providing many with serenity, beauty and accomplishment. You don't need to be an expert gardener, nor do you need green fingers or thumbs. With a little love, some trial and error, and plenty of experimentation, you can create your ideal garden. In this book, the author shares many of the lessons she has learnt over the years as she became an accidental gardener.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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The Accidental Gardener
BY,Farzana Prior
© 2020 Farzana PriorAll rights reserved.
Author: Farzana Priorhttps://www.farzanaprior.com
ISBN: 978-3-98522-968-0
This book is dedicated to all accidental and aspiring gardeners.
Other books written by Farzana Prior:
My son died, how do I go on?
The blood bath has begun, are we too late to save humanity?
Spanish flu vs Covid-19, which is the worst pandemic?
Visit
https://www.farzanaprior.com for more info and latest updates.
Prologue
The most beautiful, relaxing, and rewarding hobby is gardening. I never thought of myself as a gardener, and still don’t, yet I find myself enjoying the time I spend in the garden. I find it quite cathartic and enjoy letting my mind roam while my hands work. I fell into gardening accidentally after my oldest son was admitted to hospital, when I needed to do something other than wallow in negative energy.
I started by eliminating a few plants that had gotten overgrown in the one corner of the garden. Then, I needed to fill that empty space with something else, something colourful, something that would bring birds, or bees, or both. A trip to the local nursery and there were so many choices! After a few hours browsing, I knew what I wanted. Once I had them home and planted, the next area got some attention and some love. That was it; I did not know it at the time, but I was hooked!
During this time, and many times thereafter, I was struck by the realisation that there are a lot of learnings that come from gardening, which can be applied to life. For example, I have an orchid growing on a tree. It has bent itself backwards to produce a new orchid shoot from the parent plant, and the parent orchid can still flower at the same time as it is producing a new shoot. How many parents bend over backwards to provide a good and healthy environment for their children to grow into amazing people. How profound!
Similarly, you can have two siblings that get the same love, attention, and care, yet they will develop differently. In gardening, it is no different: no matter what you do, a particular plant may not thrive, even though its “sibling” thrives exceptionally well right beside it.
There are other simple truths that one appreciates with gardening, for example: if a plant is dying despite all your best efforts, it is better to remove it quickly such that it doesn’t infect neighbouring plants with disease or parasites. Also, during Winter there are always a couple of plants that don’t survive the cold weather. The trick is to replace them quickly after Winter, so that the garden looks perfect and there are no dead plants on show.
I approach gardening with a rather simple philosophy: if I do the gardening myself, the labour is free, so I have more money available for plants. Then, I can learn from, and devote myself to, plants. In this way, I have learned through trial and error which plant species will thrive where.
Plants are like children: each plant has its particular sunlight, water, and fertiliser requirements. In this book I will demystify these for you, share my tips and tricks with you, and hopefully encourage you to find joy and happiness in the simple treasure of a beautiful and active garden.
1. The Beauty of Gardening
Whether you have an indoor garden or an outdoor garden, there is so much reward in appreciating the beauty that can come from the wide array of foliage, flowers, and plant types. Over the years, I have found beauty in variety, and I have found beauty in each plant.Let’s look at some samples of this beauty and discuss what can be done to help these beauties flourish in a garden.
A. Orchids
Orchids grow everywhere on Earth, except Antarctica. Orchids are addictive, because once they flower, you come under their spell. Some are easier to maintain and flower than others. There are over 35 000 species occurring naturally on Earth, and an additional 100 000 or more that are man-made hybrids. Some orchids are so small that they need a magnifying glass to see them. The largest orchid in the world is called the ‘Sugar Cane Orchid’, some growing up to 7.62 metres (25 ft) in height.
Some orchid flowers have no scent, some have beautiful scents, and some have an obnoxious, rotten meat scent. Each scent is designed to attract that orchid’s specific pollinator. Some orchids will emit a scent only during the night or only during the day. Once again, this strategy is meant to attract a particular pollinator. Orchid flowers that have no scents, make use of the colour of the flower to attract the pollinator.
Some orchids are planted in the ground, some grow on trees, and some grow upside down. Some grow like bushes, some grow like bamboo, and others grow on rock faces. The
