Gleaned while Gardening: Creating Space

I really don't mean to be cliche- I know this has been done before, and there are many books with musings about lessons learned while puttering around in the garden. So, this may just be another one to put in the pile, but I can not ignore these lines running through my mind each time I pick up a trowel.

I was introducing to my cousin the art of combining texture and tone, color and size, while transforming an old wooden crate into a planter box. Emphasizing the importance of leaving a bit of room around each plant, and not cramming them against each other. In order to create this space, to ensure the healthy growth of these beautiful blooms, one must be sure of a few things. They may be difficult. Painful, even.

Creating space may mean separation, if even just a few centimeters. These plants have been grown from seed, pushing up against one another as sprouts became leaves. Once separated from supports, there may be a time of collapse as re-adjustment begins. Until their stalks gain strength. We all collapse if the supports we've become so accustomed to are moved away. But we can stand again. We unroll our backs to stand strong, needing no strength but our own.

Our roots drive out, down, seeking nutrients and moisture to sustain our stalks and bring beauty to our foliage. But the unnecessary must be taken out, lest our roots suffocate. Removal involves pulling, pinching. Effort. Confidence that we are removing only what should be. The space allows the plant to absorb all that is needed, and nothing that is not.

Space.

The nothingness around may be scary. The removal of the un-beneficial may cause unsteadiness.

Given time, even just a little, the leaves will expand. Flowers grow up. Bloom. We can grow wide, tall, deep- because we have the space to do so. We become as much as the space allows, as we reach our potential. We mature into what space is there. Becoming what we were created to be.

So each day we will work to remove the unneeded. Scrape away the dirt. Take a breath and stretch our branches.

We have become, and are ever becoming.