Gardens and Gardening

WHEN I WAS A KID, my dad always had a garden. He planted lettuce, onions, carrots, potatoes, corn, and several other good things to eat. It seemed that he always took special pride in his tomatoes. In other areas of our yard, he had beds for roses and other beautiful flowers.

At one of our homes during my growing-up years, dad's garden was close to my basketball goal in the back of the house. Often, if I happened to be shooting hoops when he got home from work, he would join me in taking some shots at the basket. However, before too long he wanted to move from the basketball court to the garden!

The garden was where dad loved to be. While there he sweated and worked hoeing weeds, watering, and doing the other necessary tasks, but it was joy to him. Working in the garden wasn't really work to my dad; it was fun! It was there that dad was able to forget about the duties and responsibilities of his regular job. Although he was sometimes tired when he finished, gardening brought refreshment and rejuvenation. "It's a good kind of tired," he would say. To my father, gardening was a great leisure activity.

Through countless decades thousands of people across the nation have had gardens - small, large, and everything in-between. As in my dad's situation, the purpose for most gardens has been to raise vegetables or to have some pretty flowers close by. However, other kinds of gardens have been developed by enterprising individuals who desire to create a park-like atmosphere in their own back yard.

Most of these other gardens are places of exquisite beauty and serenity. Features have included such things as pathways, benches, arbors, landscaping, manicured shrubbery, trees, water features, trellises, sculptures, and a variety of flowers and plants. Some gardens have become diverse botanical oases.

In most locales it is possible to make arrangements to see some of these special gardens. For example, the Missouri Botanical Garden provides a St. Louis Garden Tour this year on June 8 from 9:30 to 4:30. The tour features twelve gardens located at private homes across the St. Louis community. Reservations are limited and must be made by May 22. Persons interested in this particular tour may call 314-577-5118 for further information.

Whether it be planting seeds or otherwise tending a garden, enjoying quiet moments on a garden bench, or taking a garden tour; experiences related to gardens and gardening can be restorative and stimulative to body, mind, and spirit.  And, by all means, it can be a worthwhile use of free time.