Gardens
by Steyn Viljoen · updated 3mo ago
Gardens
Gardening offers an endless supply of these kinds of "neutralizers for perfectionism," as Lamp'l called them. He confessed to being a perfectionist himself and knows firsthand that "pursuit of perfection is a waste of time—especially in the garden. So don't bother!"
from 10 Mental Health Benefits of Gardening by Psychology Today
Steyn Viljoen added 3mo ago
- When it comes to established environments that serve the needs of as many people as possible, experts agree that public parks are the closest we have to an ideal third place. Parks are preferably welcoming to all members of the community for a variety of activities; they ideally have bathrooms, water fountains, and cooling tree cover; they’re free ... See more
Steyn Viljoen added 4mo ago
Following this logic, our brains reward a kept garden because it staves off wilderness, because in the wilderness there is death, and thus by keeping nature controlled and orderly, we keep death away.
Landscape maintenance is, therefore, an exercise of fear.from Landscape Maintenance and the Fear of Death - Wonderground
Steyn Viljoen added 4mo ago
- In 17th century France, the monarchy expressed its royal, God-given prowess through the total subjugation of natural ecology. Wilderness was reduced to clipped hedges, topiary, seriality and flatness. All hail king boxwood.
from Wilderness and Garden-Making, Post-Internet - Wonderground
Steyn Viljoen added 5mo ago
- A garden, much like a home, is a blunt, bare-faced extension of the human beings who control it. If you are the caretaker of a piece of land, that piece of land will inevitably come to embody your behavioral and cultural values, albeit in an abstract sort of a way.
from Garden Anarchy in L.A. - Wonderground
Steyn Viljoen added 5mo ago
- previously, in garden- or landscape-making, beauty became a requirement, something that was imposed on the garden. Think of shaped hedges or plants selected solely for their colors.
from The Frontier Interview—Terremoto by Brian Sholis
Steyn Viljoen added 5mo ago
- We’re more interested in beauty as an emergent property. We want new ways of understanding beauty, and we’re increasingly rooting them in our ethics. We want to encourage the beauty found in the aliveness, or the kindness, or the gentleness of what we do as landscape makers. How things look, in this view, is slightly less important.
from The Frontier Interview—Terremoto by Brian Sholis
Steyn Viljoen added 5mo ago
- A chief gladness of gardening comes from its dual nature, from how it salves our longing for making order out of chaos but also frustrates it. There is elemental satisfaction in the reminder that we can never fully control nature — that, in fact, any sense of control is a childish fantasy, for we ourselves are children of nature, made by the selfsa... See more
Steyn Viljoen added 5mo ago
- I cannot say exactly how nature exerts its calming and organizing effects on our brains, but I have seen in my patients the restorative and healing powers of nature and gardens, even for those who are deeply disabled neurologically. In many cases, gardens and nature are more powerful than any medication… The effects of nature’s qualities on health ... See more
Steyn Viljoen added 5mo ago