Over the last few years Mike has been renovating his garden, laid out many years ago, which had over the years got wild and overgrown and had destroyed a lot of the beautiful planting. With Lance’s help labouring when needed, the large garden is taking on a refurbished state with recycling landscaping materials and new design elements reflecting our interest in circles, the moon and its relationship to the earth and sun, new patterns of paving inspired by circular wave patterns in water and more generally. It also has a very tranquil setting in a quiet village and next to a small “Capability Brown” park.
After the first year of work, Mike had quite a profound experience in the garden. He realised how much of the space was a reflection of his state of mind. The refurbishment process was reflecting the personal transformations and challenges going on over the years. He found reflection in the garden, which again was taking on a new beauty, clear views and landscaping emerging, new planting and new water elements, was bringing deep moments of peace and a sense of just being. The garden was indeed becoming his sacred garden, a place of sanctuary.
Four years on and Mike has shifted forward on the phases of the work, now in a position to tackle the inevitable heavy landscape work that would make the garden sustainable for the future. Recent age related health issues demanded an exercise regime and, with a dislike for most sport, mindless gym work and exercise for the sake of it, he wanted to find something that would meet the exercise requirement of resistance training while being productive. Heavy landscaping has proved to be the answer. So not only has the recent garden work been down with a great deal of personal physical effort, it has been done with joy. This may be one of the few physically stressful challenges that Mike loves so much he cannot leave it alone.
Each week has felt like a big step and it has been a real pleasure to see the changes, so much so, when Lance was visiting recently, he felt the need to document this creative work:
“The space that Mike has created in his garden is unique; more than just a nice domestic bit of greenery that adorns most suburban or village dwellings, but a real conduit for calm, tranquility and reflection. The design aesthetic that Mike has channeled into this outdoor space is not bounded by borders or an overly rigid, straight-lined approach. It is a much more fluid experience, with circles, curves, irradiating wave-like patterns. The effect is like that one has when sitting by water; inspiring a contemplative state of mind while experiencing the sheer beauty of the colour and shapes of the plants that adorn it. And it is a living entity, always changing, always evolving.
The photographs I have taken cannot fully convey how this garden feels to inhabit. Yet, I feel they are a means of illustrating the vision and work that Mike has poured into this wonderful space”.
Work that is opening up the garden experience to more peace, joy and tranquillity. So much so Mike has been writing and documenting his journey on making what he sees as a sacred garden, a pun on secret garden, which helps him to discover the inner him. This may yet become a piece of writing he shares. And long may the garden be one of the sources of inspiration for us at Earthwaves.