A garden is nature ready to sow. It is the useful ally of the beautiful: a living library, the preservation of species hand in hand with aesthetics, the appeal to our senses. A place for relaxation, peace, play and joy, meditation, conversations, confessions and secrets.
The act of gardening itself can be seen as a spiritual practice of connection to the land, a way of collaborating with nature, cultivating the soil and participating in the cycle of life. An activity sometimes associated with subsistence, as happened (and still happens) in monasteries, there are many people who say they find peace and meaning in creating and maintaining gardens, their own or those of others, or taking care of vegetable gardens.
Regardless of how beautiful they are at other times of the year, it is in spring that most gardens are at their peak. It’s the flowers’ fault and the explosion of color they paint them with. After the gray and cold months, in which much of what is in nature is in a state of hibernation, the rebirth of a garden is a hymn to the joy that reflects our own desire to free ourselves from the weight of winter. We want light and celebration, enthusiasm, energy. And that is why the ornamental function of a garden is one of its most important facets.
Whether modest or sumptuous, designed by great landscape designers or merely born as hobby of any anonymous citizen, only frequented by the inhabitants of a neighborhood or visited by thousands of tourists annually, gardens are a bridge between people and nature, and reveal a lot about the culture of each society over time. But their greatest achievement is, without a doubt, contributing – a lot! – for our happiness.
Ana is the author of the blog Travel because yeswhere a version of this article was originally published, and writes according to the rules of the old Orthographic Agreement.