I’m not much of a gardener. I just can’t seem to be Zen with it. Farming is my husband’s gig. Without a doubt, I am a forager down to the bone. Foraging is where I find joy and peace of mind. When I’m outdoors, I enjoy exploring, listening and watching the miracles around me and gathering for our meals. So, I do yard work only when necessary, which tends to be more often than I would like. Unfortunately, since the plants on our land do not make room for us, I must make the room by mowing and pruning. Some people love tending to their landscape; I do not. Nevertheless, you gotta do what you gotta do.

The other day I decided that the hedges had taken up more of than its fair share of the path to our front door. It was a big chore for me, because I try to prune hard and the hedges are above my head and wide. Even with a ladder, it’s a challenge. Nonetheless, I decided to bring back order to the hedges and regain some control over our path, at least for a while. I am not very creative when pruning, I wouldn’t even call my job neat; perhaps utilitarian is a better term for my work.

I was not always this way. At another house we lived in years ago, I did try to be creative with our hedges. We had four varieties of hedges lining both sides of our walkway. My plan was to have each side of the path grow into each other and prune them in a way that suggested waves. Over two years, I handpruned the walkway and they started growing into each other and appeared to flow together. It was starting to look like what I had envisioned. Then one day while I was away, Mike had some guys come over to mow the lawn and do various yard chores, including prune the hedges. The fellow proceeded to prune the hedges without any instructions; the result was traditional rounded, separate bushes; no more integrated wavy hedges. I was devastated. That was the last time I attempted to creatively landscape; it’s all utilitarian now.

After a couple hours of pruning, the hedges were done. Now we can walk to our front door without our heads and shoulders being assaulted by the hedges. I have to admit, it felt somewhat rewarding to have completed the task.  Utilitarian one may say.