The Christmas Garden
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While beloved gardens have a knack of meeting many emotional and practical needs throughout the year, I hadn’t really considered the potential of my planted patch when it came to the festive period.
Recently we hosted a pre-Christmas family get-together.
My husband, the cook in our household, quite relished the prospect of hosting, with the multiple trips to Banks Peninsula for crayfish-gathering, and studying of YouTube for tips on meat prep for his smoker.
I, on the other hand, stared bleakly at my dirty window panes which exposed low-level adulting, and fled to the garden centre instead.
Despite the grind of our joint cleaning, weeding, planting and tidying efforts, we both felt so much better entering the summer holiday season knowing there were now no further big jobs looming. It was just the deadline we needed.
The weather on the gathering day was bright for the most part, allowing everyone to drift about the house and garden seeking spots in the shade while eating and talking the afternoon away.
On reflection, this was yet another situation made better by the environment my garden provides, and I got thinking about how else it might help smooth the way through the Christmas period:
SKIP THE INSIDE TREE AND DECORATE YOUR GARDEN
If, like me, you can’t ever quite get into gear to have a real Christmas tree, perhaps you need to take a look out the window. My own experimentation on bringing Christmas cheer into the garden has included baubles hanging from the old cherry tree, gold bows atop my handmade obelisk for the cucumber and, for special gatherings, gold tinsel snaking up the odd tree bough.
While adults sometimes might not even notice these unexpected spangles, children absolutely will and seem to get very excited about the whimsy of it all.
While there is definitely a risk of visually contaminating your serene green space with the introduction of Christmas sparkles and stars, obviously the lengths of decorating you go to will be down to personal preference.
MINE YOUR GARDEN FOR DECORATION
While deep in spider-land pruning the wayward arms of climbing ficus from my front fence last week, it occurred to me that some of the cut lengths could be stripped of leaves and twisted around to form the basis of a wreath. The same could be said for the naughty old man’s beard that tickles its long fingers through the neighbour’s fence each year.
Anything bendy and vine-like could be utilised, but unless it is something like a whip of eucalyptus, I would recommend removing the leaves as they will wilt in no time.
What’s more, you don’t need a bursting floral paradise to decorate a Christmas table or pop a little vase in the bathroom for your guests.
See beyond your normal pickings and look for shapes such as aquilegia seedheads, sweet pea tendrils with ripening pods attached and the spiky results of geum and nigella that have gone over. Scattering a line of little bud vases or milk bottles down a table feels heartfelt and homely – create some unity by repeating a few of the plant elements between them.
SHOP YOUR GARDEN FOR PRESENTS
While there won’t be many ripe seeds to be collected from your plants yet, it is worth scanning around the base of your favourites for any seedlings that are popping up. At this time of year, I see the emergence of self-seeded Verbena bonariensis, eryngium and knautia seedlings that feel just big enough to transfer into a pottle to gift.
STAYCATION IN YOUR GARDEN
Whether your Christmas is going to be busy or slow, consider making an effort to spend time in your garden doing nothing much at all. This means lazing around, book in hand, refreshing drink nearby, phone on silent and open permission to snooze if that’s where the day takes you.
Resist the urge to do the jobs (that you likely do enjoy) and make this summer break stand out in your memories as time you “visited” your garden, appreciating what you have created and enjoying your little piece of paradise as if it were a place you were paying to access.
The weeds will still be there after your break, and you’ll perhaps gain a different perspective of your planting when acting as a relaxed guest.
This is an expanded version of the article featured in my Stuff ‘Homed’ gardening column - published online as well as in The Press, Dominion Post and other regional papers on December 22nd 2022
All words and images are my own, taken in my home and garden in Christchurch, New Zealand unless otherwise captioned.
