Gardens and gardening and gardeners have taught me a lot, most of it by a form of osmosis. My definition of gardening may be broader than some, but see what you think.
ECO is Greek for habitat or environment and GARDEN means something special to each of us.
Now I did write about Latin once, but before you assume I am the scholarly type, you should know I invented the Eco-Gardens title on the spur of the moment. (You might want to check my autobiography in case you haven't already!)
Eco-Gardens sounds good, and it fits right in with my concept of the garden as a good place for people and most other living things. I do draw the line at deer; I do NOT believe deer need to be in MY garden, but you are welcome to have Bambi in yours if that is what YOU want!!! I am not about to try to tell you what to do.
Well, I firmly believe gardens are meant to be used and enjoyed. I am not a back-to-nature-hippie-type or a fanatically "organic" gardener. But I'm not an indiscriminate "nozzlehead" (chemical-using-fiend) either. In fact, I tend to have a pretty relaxed outlook about my own garden.
My overall approach seems to have settled on a healthy respect for the sense of place and physical constraints that affect each garden. Weather, for example, is a pretty strong influence and good gardeners everywhere understand that. Good gardeners spend a lot of time observing and understanding the natural features and processes at work. My very first Suite 101 article describes my design philosophy in detail: What Makes A Good Garden Design? Hint -- It's Not the Fancy Paper!
In any case, gardens are never static, and if a garden is an enjoyable place for people it will probably be attractive to other living things, too. Usually at least a few plants, some animals and probably some other fine critters like BATS or SNAKES. These are all fair game in my book — or should I say, potential articles!
Every week I write about something my garden has taught me, one way or another. In case you haven't guessed already, I am not an armchair gardener. I actually get my hands dirty. In fact, I usually have sort of grubby fingernails during the gardening season — no fancy manicures here! (Hence the reference to soap in the title. Soap is a good thing. Use it liberally, rinse well.)
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