From Gardening to Writing: The Process Matters

When I think of making a process of something, it makes me too tired to even do it, but when I think of gardening, it reminds me of meditation. Maybe it’s the idea of working with God’s creation or even the satisfaction of having done something myself. Nonetheless, my obsession with gardening has grown up to the point where last summer I had my grandfather rototill a third of my front yard so I could make a large flower garden. In the midst of this, there was a lot to consider in order to have the most beautiful garden.

Starting off, I had to get new potting soil to intermix with the topsoil of the yard. This was so then I could get the most nutrients to the flowers. Next, I lined river rock around the perimeter of the garden, to show our limits and make it uniformal. Finding a few local nurseries, I was able to gather a few different kinds of tulips, bushes, and some flats of a variety of flowers to plant inside of our garden. Before I could do any of the planting, I placed the large decorations that I wanted including a bird bath, half a wine barrel, a chair with a planter built in the seat, and a large pot.

After I placed the decorations where I wanted them, that is when I started planting. From the center out, I carefully picked the locations of our plants; flowers from the flats I intermixed in the center of the flowerbed, cascading out the flower pot on its side and inside the planter in the chair. Leaving enough space for them to grow, they were planned to fill in the space and grow upward and flourish. On the outer edges of the flowerbed, I planted our tulips so that they could be seen right away. I then put the bushes as our greenery in the corners of the flowerbed.

When everything was planted, I set our sprinkler on for a few minutes to allow the water to help the soil even out and set. From then on, each day I would water the plants with the sprinkler, and weeded out the small growths throughout the garden. Days would go by when I would have to pull out vines of weeds that I had missed and had tried to choke my flowers. When I noticed that slugs had been eating away at my flowers, I knew I had to put an end to it. Luckily at that time, I had started my new job at the Wilco farmstore where my grandfather worked as a garden specialist. He helped me pick out a slug bait that I just had to sprinkle throughout the garden and it would kill the slugs. I also got a tub of ladybugs who were able to eat the other small pests that would come into my garden.

While all this effort for my garden took months to do and care for, the end result was fabulous. The flowers flourished and looked more beautiful than I could ever imagine. Others would see our garden and ask if we had used magic to make them grow like that. The dedication that I put into my garden paid off, especially when my graduation party rolled around and people were able to see the garden up close.

When I think about my garden, I realize that it's not that different from the process of writing a good paper. Setting a good basis and focal point is just like setting the garden soil and perimeter of it. Picking out flowers to plant is like choosing the points of the body, and the placement of the flowers is the format of the body. Digging the holes individually for the flowers helps set a deep basis for the topic and allows care for each individual sentence. As you finish the planting, the editing comes in as you weed out the garden to make room for the flowers to come together. As a writer, we need to learn how to protect our garden from the pests of our internal and external critics. By focusing on improvement and allowing us to love our writing, we are able to keep out the negativity that comes our way.

This process is important because it allows you to give the care that the piece needs in order for it to be an amazing garden that is impressive to anyone who sees it. When we just toss dirt into a flower box, dig shallow holes for our points with little research, and let the weeds of bad points and sentences grow along with it, it looks all a mess. But the time and care that we give our writing piece will show the love and work we put into it. That is why I love gardening and writing, because one in the same, hard work pays off and gives beauty for all to see.