sowing block and edging issue

I had been so much looking forward to sow all my precious gathered seeds according to my ambitious plan, but when I finally came to the summer house, I kept on postponing the sowing bit. I redesigned and reviewed the guild and flowerbeds, over and over again. I used silly arguments, like "it is not wet enough to sow", "too sunny", "too cold", "I am not ready" ... until there was no more time to postpone it any longer. We would leave the place and country in two days. 

I realized I had a something like a "sowing block", like you can have a writer's block? I was afraid to get those seeds out there. Afraid that I had chosen the wrong place for them, the wrong partners, the wrong time, or the wrong way of sowing.

European Peacock (Inachis io, dagpauwoog, dagpåfugleøje), Photo: ©Janus

When I finally realized, that my fear for doing things wrong was blocking me, I took a deep breath and time for a cup of coffee in the midst of the garden. I closed my eyes and imagined my dream garden. I saw a colorful garden filled with flowers, bees, and butterflies. A well designed garden with nice idyllic spots and details, but also a rather wild garden with a lot of spontaneity.  

Once I had this picture in my head, I relaxed. I knew it would be ok. I decided to take it bed by bed and took a tray with seeds needed one bed at a time. I just managed to do it all and felt so relieved at the end of the day that I had done it! From now on, it was up to nature to decide and I just would have to wait and see.


I also struggled with the edging bit. In permaculture, one should try to create a lot of edges because that is where things happen e.g. between ecosystems. In nature, one rarely finds straight lines and thus waves, spirals, curves are better designed to mimic real life out there. I myself also prefer organic shapes to straight and square ones. However, I did not feel happy with what I had done with this organic approach so far. I had designed and created some round shapes and a herb spiral as well as a bend curve in one of the paths, but that was it.

The paths between my trees were square and straight. The fact that I used rope to define my future paths and beds certainly had something to do with it. It was rather tricky to use some sticks or pieces of branches to pin the corners of the rope down in the grass. Making squares turned out to be much easier than making waves or curved lines. Since I had not enough wood or bark chips yet, I would need to have space enough to let a lawn mower pass on the grassy paths for the time being. Again, straight lines would be easier to maneuver. I decided that I would leave it the way it was and promised myself to reshape the beds with a bit more curving later on.

I guess both frustrations, learned me to look at the garden in a more progressive way. Nothing I do is final. I needed to look at it as a dynamic project and do things in steps adjusting things all the time. Patience and one step at a time...

Sunset Northern-Sjaelland, Photo:©IBee