GroundWork

About Me

I remember telling a family member about a project in the garden, talking about the different elements of design that went into it and how the progress was coming along.  "When will you be finished?", she asked.  I was surprised to find that I had no answer to her question.  She had stumped me.  I had no idea whatsoever when the project would be finished, or even what that really meant.  My garden wasn’t like a kitchen remodel.  There was no date when the work would be complete.  Yes, this particular bit of work had an end date, but that day would bring about the possibility of a new project to further the work and expand the experience of the space.  But more than that, I didn’t ever want it to be over.  The very idea that someday the Garden would “end” felt more like grieving than a milestone to celebrate.  One of the joys that I take from any space I inhabit is engagement, and the thought that there would be nothing to engage me in the space helped me to understand that it isn’t the end result of a garden that matter most to me.  It is the way the design of the space engages people and invites them into interactions, the way a space becomes and changes with time, based on the element we that are already present and that we bring to it.