As I walk from the
hard asphalt surface of the parking lot onto the soft grass leading up to the
alumni garden, I begin to notice the idyllic state of this place, one where
humans have intervened in order to manicure and maintain the natural world. The
alumni garden, located right behind the Salisbury Alumni house on Camden
Avenue, consists of two, long, rectangular beds surrounded by holly and oak
trees. Various types of native and
non-native flora have been planted in the garden, including elephant ears (colocasia esculentas), alpine aster (aster aplinus), chrysanthemums, and
others. These plants normally live for a month or two until they are removed
and new ones are planted. A fountain is located around a brick platform, with
steps on each side. The place echoes of sounds, including the constant splashing
of the water flowing out of the fountain, along with the calls of American
robins, northern cardinals, and other birds flying around the area. The garden
is certainly one that would be considered beautiful, one where weddings,
receptions, and ceremonial events of all types might be hosted. Colorful flora
has been carefully organized in the beds so that plants are set out in their
respective areas, not to touch or impinge upon one another. When I first walked
back to this garden I was unsettled by its peculiar form of beauty. It was
beautiful, with clear distinct geometrical demarcations. The flora is planted
in rows and columns, with no room for life in between. The grass was all cut to
be 2-3 inches in height, and all branches and leaves are to be removed from the
grass. This garden may appear to be desirable, however, this garden is not an
accurate representation of the natural world. This garden is more like a
“trophy” garden.
As I sit on the
grass during a calm Fall afternoon, an American robin (Turdus migratorius) flies right overtop of me, immediately grabbing
my attention. I proceeded to watch this robin fly around the surrounding area,
eventually losing sight as it flew into a nearby holly bush. Curious to see
where this robin went, I slowly started to approach the holly bush, looking for
any movement within it’s branches. As I reached the tall, wide, and prickly
bush, the robin I originally saw dove out of the bush and flew away to another
tree. “PEEEEK! tut-tut-tut PEEEEKKK! tut-tut-tut PEEEEK!” I hear, which the
female and males use to signal when a potential predator might be near. This is
not a call of danger, but rather of awareness (“American”). Since I was not
deemed an immediate threat, I sense a feeling of trust between the robin and
myself. Instead of continuing to follow the robin, I pushed aside the branches
near where the robin exited and looked inside. The inside of the holly bush is
fairly open compared to the seemingly impenetrable outside, with hundreds of
branches stemming up and down its trunk. As I looked around the inside, I see
in the branches what appears to be a clump of sticks and twigs. Moving forward,
I carefully pushed away more branches in order to gain a better perspective.
Strategically placed far within the holly bush, a robin’s nest sits sturdily on
top of the surrounding branches. This nest showcased incredible craftsmanship;
with leaves and braches intricately woven into almost a perfect basket, larger
twigs provide a base which remind me of the supports to my childhood treehouse,
and pine needles are placed delicately on top to provide a soft bedding for the
two robin eggs occupying the nest. The different shades of brown, orange,
yellow, and black camouflage the nest amongst its surroundings. I can sense the
time and effort that went into building this nest. This nest is not just a pile
of sticks and branches; this nest is also a home. Although the American robin
is a migratory species, this holly bush is the robin’s home for now. After a
moment of appreciation, I slowly let back the braches that covered up the nest
and sat on the ground behind me. A few minutes later I saw the mother robin
return to her nest. I sense the robin feels protected here. I do too.
Gardens are a form
of art which serve to connect human beings to their origins, the natural world.
Although gardens vary in different forms, they all serve to appreciate the
natural world, signifying an important relationship between humans and nature
(Butler, 2010). The relationship can be seen though the role of the gardener.
The gardeners of the alumni garden are not required to care about the working
of the garden in relation to all of the other natural systems around it. The
gardener is not required to plant native plants, ensure biodiversity, or ensure
habitat for animals. Rather, the gardener is required to keep the garden
“maintained”. The lawns have to be trimmed, the beds have to be mulched, the
plants cannot be overgrown, the weeds must be removed, edges must be kept, the
brick must be swept, and the bushed must be trimmed. This idea of “maintaining”
the garden is rather important in understanding the relationship between man
and nature being employed here.
In Western
civilization, the historical relationship has remained the domination of nature
by man. Decartes’ division of reality into distinct and separate spheres of
mind and body, and of subject and object, immensely changed the Western
worldview’s perception of nature. This division can be seen in Western science,
which assumes that the natural world and its processes can be “known”, and in
turn predicted. Western culture uses this sense of knowledge in order to
manipulate and control the natural world to meet human needs. The Western
division of humanity and nature can be seen in the form of a classical garden,
such as the alumni garden, which is characterized by distinct geometrical
demarcations and clear walkways (“A Classic Garden”). These types of gardens
present nature as something that can be managed, controlled, and dominated. In
the case of the alumni garden, nature is used to provide aesthetic beauty in a
precisely-defined yet idyllic environment.
My time spent in
the alumni garden, although relatively short-lived, has given me a glimpse into
the processes of life that are at work on the Earth around me. Nature invites
us to understand the way that it thrives, to be astonished in wonder, and to be
moved by its beauty. The natural systems of our planet invite holistic
understanding of the process of life. This cyclical process can never be fully
understood or predicted since they are characterized by constant creation and
diversity. These natural processes are interconnected, codependent, and
collaborative, which all work in junction with one another in order to
cultivate life. Every single piece of the alumni garden is important and
valuable to understanding the natural world. The holly bush was originally
planted to serve as a visible boundary between the alumni garden and the house
next door. The intention was not to provide a habitat for animal life, but it
did anyway. The natural world has no boundaries, producing life wherever it
exists. Gardens should be created in order to appreciate this productivity,
emulating the integrity, beauty, and stability that the natural world
possesses.
Jake O’Neil
Works Cited:
Butler, R. (2010). Garden
Aesthetics. Retrieved from:
http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/ciswp/rbutler/Docs/Garden%20Art.pdf
“A Classic Garden”. (2015).
Monrovia. Retrieved from:
http://www.monrovia.com/design-inspiration/styles/classic/
“American Robin Dictionary of Songs
and Sounds”. Journey North. Retrieved from:
https://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/robin/Dictionary.html
Your relation with the nesting robins reminds me a bit of the relationship of the natural historian we read about who was tracking wolves. It was one thing to identify the wolf and gather data about it. It was a whole other thing to be in touch with wolf, to register its existence palpably. I also appreciate very much your description of how nature is subversive, how it enters into the classical garden and adapts the well-ordered schemes of man to more than human processes and purposes.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this Jake, especially because it shows the same garden that I had studied as well, only through a different lens. When you look at the garden you see a distorted sense of beauty, not one of purely natural beauty but beauty of human construction. You are absolutely correct in the sense that the gardeners of this area not completely mindful as to what the plants they are placing there are doing to the ecosystem as a whole or if they are planting floral fauna that supports biodiversity or habitat in the garden. They are only looking at it from one aspect, the aesthetic appreciation that humans will get out of it by looking at the spread of colorful native and non-native plant species. As well I do really like that the segment on the robin finding a home in the holly tree. Although this tree is constantly being modified and maintained, this creature is still able to adapt to the situations in which it is given in order to find a home in which it can be protected from predators. It seems that nature will always find a way to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing and humanly constructed world, and the robin and her nest is a perfect way of exemplifying this.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very interesting article, most people chose ponds or rivers while you took on the task of the everyday garden. I liked to thought about gardens connecting people to nature even though they do not look like a natural forest or pond edge.
ReplyDeleteThe alumni garden was such a fantastic choice to do your natural history about. I really enjoyed how you looked at the different aspects of a garden, the native and non-native, and the various fauna that used this place as a home. I especially liked when you wrote about the Robin's nest being in the holly bush despite that the purpose of the holly bush was never to provide habitat to the natural world. The statement you make claiming that "the natural world has no boundaries" is profound and is the perfect conclusion to your work. I truly enjoyed your take on a garden and especially on one that so many of us have seen, but have rarely paused to contemplate.
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