A dream of trees

As a child, I watched them as they laid out gardens. Now, when I am soon going to turn 50, I find that I am revisiting many of these gardens after decades of absence.

In many cases, the grass has worn out, the ground is hard and bare, the shrubs have been replaced, or have long gone; and yet the soul of these gardens seems surprisingly intact. It didn't matter then how small the land was, but a tree or a few were always planted. Carefully chosen, located after much discussion and deliberation. Some were meant to be seen in their full glory from the house, or to greet you as you went in and out of the house; it were the trees that made these gardens.

Where more land was available, many big and small trees were planted and they sat in the space making up a motley bunch. Some were bare, some had lovely flowers, yet others had fine leaves. And they still stand, conversing with each other over decades.

The other thing that struck me was that all the plants in the garden were like friends who really cared and fussed over the owners of the house. Some made cold winters radiant, others made soft music with the breeze, and yet others sent invites to many different birds.

Then I spoke to the owners. Not one, but many. And they all had tales to tell about their gardens. Of how their grandchildren played in the shaded corner, or how a personal loss was made lighter by the branches of a tree that caressed their bedroom window. And when they spoke of trees that had died, it was always with the remorse and sadness of losing a close friend.

It seemed as if the only constant companion they had in their lives was the garden. It grew with them, never complained or judged them, but silently kept them rooted. I live today in a small house, with an even smaller garden. And many years ago I had helped plant the trees around the house, on the streets, and in the open space near my house. Many of these have grown splendidly, and now create a distant green veil that hides my house from the city. I have dogs and tortoises. And my garden is a mess.

The tortoises eat all the tender small leaves, and the dogs love digging the ground, and nestling in the depression they furiously form. My mother complains about the garden each day. She is mortified that despite my supposed ability at doing landscapes, I choose to be so careless about my own patch of green.

But I am content. It's a mess that I can allow to grow the way it wants, and let my dogs and tortoises and the many birds that come to it claim it and use as their own. It is a feeling that enriches me.

Once, when asked, I had said that the gardens are the last of the non-political spaces in our lives. Streets, workplaces, even our own homes, are spaces where the way we live or behave is influenced by others around us, and we calibrate our actions all the time.

But the quiet corner in the garden is your own. It's the space that can nourish and liberate you, the way perhaps only a distant spot of lonely wilderness can.

As the years go by, I get less confident about advising people about their own house gardens.

How can one advise someone about the friends he should make, and the family he should share his life with? If however you have decided that you want a garden, it is possible to seek assistance in the process.

You can seek assistance on how to select hardy native plants; on how to plant so that water and sunlight are well calibrated; on how the garden can be lit; on how spaces in the garden can be made which can be used at different times of the year; or how the soil can be improved, and what medicines will work when pests attack your garden.

Such help people like me can give. However, to seek this help, you have to first spend some time in the open space outside your home, and dream about a family who will stay there with you for a long time. Dream about the many friends you will make. And dream about the dreams you can have here—unfettered, tranquil, and fulfilling.

— M/s. Prabhakar B. Bhagwat is India's premier landscape design firm. Aniket Bhagwat is a senior partner in the firm. You can reach them at landscapeindia@ usa.net. Or see their work at www.landscapeindia.net