Each Place has its own Voice

Olana,  Hudson, NY

Each place has its own voice. As a gardener, designer or someone who works with the land in some fashion,  you try to hear its call.... It may speak in loud, imposing tones or utter faint whispers... but the voice is always present, no matter how muffled.


Ashintully Gardens,  Tyringham, Mass


I like to think that as gardeners or designers we take that voice and make it a song...with lilting melodies we create a flow between the place and those who tread upon it.


The plants, the forms, the light all combine in a synthesis that sings the praises of the natural world in which we live.

That is the gist of serenity gardens...they sing the praises of the natural world and serenade us, if only for a short time....the only question is, 'can we make time for the walk through the garden?'

one of my gardens - Jan Johnsen


All it takes is a few minutes of quiet to chat with a place, to hear its 'song'. And I am the first to admit that this is a particular challenge - finding the time....but if we don't we can fall into what Robert Pirsig calls a 'day-to-day shallowness'.

We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone. "



— Robert M. Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values)



I guess it's not all about gardens,

to Robert Pirsig, it's all about motorcycles  (smile)

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