Letters to garden makers

Dear Monty, It has been a while since I wrote to you. People are saying that this year has been one of tragedy - it is true and barely bearable. The depths to which we sink always surprises me until I see myself and realize ..... OK I am full of prejudice too. Gardens are places of healing are they not ? I find even in the Winter there is a sense of something bigger than our foolish ways to be found even in this small garden. I remember being disappointed in the summer that my little artwork of a garden still does not have enough for the garden photographer and more importantly - friend - Charles Hawes to find interesting . I accept this and look for ways of making it visually more so - it is a challenge in such a small space. I read Noel Kingsbury's blog -  noels-garden.blogspot.com   In his latest blog he has written about Japanese gardens - and the art of placement. I believe this is what I am aiming for. Not a pseudo Japanese garden, but one with elements that ...

Dearest Monty, We had a leak around the chimney of our wood burner, only a small drip thankfully, but it meant climbing up on to the flat roof of the kitchen in order to seal it. It was a frosty misty morning - the mist sinking into the valley. Being elevated helped me to remember where I am - where this small garden is - perched on the side of a hill which is now surrounded by trees. We often lose the context when we are at ground level. I realise that I need to get that sense of context back. I recently visited Hauser and Wirth in Bruton Somerset where the Oudolf field is laid out like a sole of a running shoe. I found the whole scheme too flat - too much on one plane. It is as though I crave higher structures - punctuation if you like. Perhaps it is as a result of living in the hills for so long. Looking down on the garden from the roof was a bit like looking at the field of perennials - everything was flattened out - and to be honest I am getting bored wi...

Dear Monty, Now you have been put to bed for the Winter and the digital door to Longmeadow closed, and the dogs retreat to their beds and blankets, I have to look elsewhere for inspiration. Fires and flames - Autumn burns here from yellows, reds, oranges - eventually to dry twigs. I have just watched BBC4's War Artists - presented by Andrew Graham-Dixon - this episode was about the work of Paul Nash. Nash is a painter I have not investigated beyond a few of his wartime landscapes. I fell in love with his early and later pastoral landscapes - seen by me for the first time. Although not mentioned by Graham-Dixon, I could see the influence of Samuel Palmer and Blake in his work. I could also see cross fertilisation from Ben Nicholson - all artists I admire and am influenced by. I identified with Graham Dixon's interpretation of Nash's work, particularly the idea of the endowment of spirituality into his unpeopled landscapes. They are statements of the spirit....

Dear Monty, I notice that gardening is being promoted as being good for both physical and mental health, now while I agree with this - I do think it should be pointed out to prospective garden makers - that it can also be fraught with anxiety. My anxiety fluctuates like the seasons. Yesterday the light was such that the structure of the garden - even a harmonious rhythm, spoke peace to my inner man, but today it seems to have gone ! How can that be? Is light playing tricks with me? Unlike you I do not have much flower colour in the garden, most of the colour is provided by leaves, and I suppose this may be the problem. Nevertheless - how good it is when it does work - Yesterday was a moment of heaven. I tried to capture it in a sketch and photograph - words cannot describe why I felt so at ease with it. Paul.

Dear Monty, I persist in writing to you - I do apologise. There is a time for everything under the sun. I so often miss the timing because my mind is full of scattered thoughts. I think we need time for reflection and observation. It is said that seeing is believing - but sometimes it takes eyes that open to that place beyond our usual level of conciousness in order to see and believe. Today a dragonfly dark and mysterious landed on my head. Its wings clacked as it came to rest on my thinning crown. How awesome to be able to hear its wings, as awesome as the Autumn song of the robin and the scattering of leaves in the low light. Some scatterings. Paul.

Dear Monty, Blue skies How death eats us up These fruitful minds which outstrip our bodies. We think we fly above it Yet it stalks us like a hunter in the shadows. Give me sparrows in the hedge Give me the plaintive Robin And angled light through strap-like leaves. Give me loving kindness as long as I can give it in return. There is the rub. Kindness in the face of knowledge. Stepping down - giving way is so hard to do. We are given so much that is unmerited. Flowers give hoverflies nectar and pollen for their pad-like mouths The flowers on the duvet cover hanging on the line give me sustenance. A pattern against the hedge - over the throne I never sit on. Give me a happy hound with wagging tail Chickens pecking at this year's grapes The last flush of red foliage Dappled and appled. Autumn stalks in and brings mellow melancholy to my heart Oh I wish I was dead to my passions Or at least sleeping peacefully. Paul

Dear Monty, As the debate continues about the hour long GW, I remember why I love this garden. Today it is shrouded in mist and I fall in love with the garden all over again. I love the end of summer stillness, its berries and call for re-definition. I love the last splashes of colour And the re-imagining of its future. New plans for the planting New seeds from friends Inspiration from grander gardens. The coal tip cloister My imagination Inspiration Even on rainy days at The National Botanic Garden of Wales Paul

Dear Monty, It's rare that I post 2 letters to you on one weekend, but having heard a piece of music entitled 'The Lonely Particle' on Radio 3 yesterday morning - it hit a spot within me which produced a series of thoughts - stream of consciousness if you like. I share this not because it is a great or clever piece of writing but because it is the only way I know how to  release it from within. We are all built of particles, elements, salts, fluids. Within this mysterious biology is a lonely particle on its journey through time and space. Deep within us it seeks to be connected to something that shines That is not dulled by other elements Or faded Or broken. How can this particle find its home Its rest Its target Its completeness, in a world of forced separation and violent disintegration perpetrated by human against human Blood for blood Bone for bone ? Though remote from the horror they sit in fortresses and palaces Foreign or familiar. Oh where ...

Dear Monty, Do you suffer from wind ? I'm suffering from a storm of names swirling in my head. Vlinderhof ? Winderhof? Piet Kingsbury Maryberry Names. My name Paulderhof My black back garden Coal Exhaust Salt Dog Wind in my housen Wind in my Garten Are you smiling smugly in your hedged haven ? My small garden is wind whipped today in contrast to a whippets rest in sunshine just at the start of the week. Contrasting Sometimes in my eyes - satisfying Sometimes annoying. Gardens remind me of Isra -el I struggle with the power in this life-force. Slash cut clear Grow flop fear Is it good enough ? It's good enough for me But it could be better. Paul

Dear Monty, Again I say pish. I was scorned for planting bedding begonias (2 quid a tray from Homebargins) in some of my pots and borders. I admit to panic buying them shortly before opening for the NGS in June. I had little colour in the garden, which under normal circumstances wouldn't bother me that much but I felt obliged to offer just a little. Some - who shall be nameless - mocked my efforts. Deservedly so - it was a rushed and mad idea which really wasn't me , or so I thought. But pish ! I now like them because they are picking up the red of the new flame -tipped growth of the Norway maple, and just look right ! There I said it. I know you have been down right rude about begonias Monty - and it seems this may be one of the rare occasions when the co - maker of The Veddw agrees with you. In life it seems so much easier to accept the infinite variety of taste. I like saying pish. Paul