Daily Dose Blogger Bios
I'm Not Talking About Your Granny's Garden...
...Unless your Granny was whooping it up at CBGB's 'back in the day'. Modern gardening is all about a certain kind of spirit; a sense of adventure, a willingness to push the limits - like dying your hair blue or getting a mowhawk. This isn't to say that gardens have to be 'out there' or weird to be good, but I think they do have to be emphatic - tentative gestures just don't cut it. That's why I think making a garden is a very punk rock thing to do.
This goes double for people who decide to make a garden in their front yard, in the sacred space usually reserved for that green swath of American suburban conformity - the front lawn. In most neighborhoods one lawn flows into another, all the way down the block, every home standing in solidarity against the anarchic spirit of horticultural individualism until some young couple buys their first home, moves in, and rips up their piece of the emerald carpet so they can put in a garden. They usually don't realize they have made a full frontal assault on baseball, apple pie, and the Star Spangled Banner - they just wanted something different; maybe something less water-hogging, or more colorful ... whatever! Poor young couple, they never expected the disapproving stares, the questions ("So why did you ruin that beautiful front yard Eric worked so hard on?"), and they certainly never expected anyone to shoot the finger at them while they were amending their soil with compost.
Okay, - the young couple in question was my husband and I ... and the neighborhood attitude has changed since my front yard grew in pretty. Now people stroll by on their walks and make nicey- nice over the flowers and shrubs. But I won't forget. I saw the underbelly of my little corner of America, and I know how radical it is to exchange a front lawn for a garden. So even though my hair isn't purple, or liberty spiked, and I haven't been in a mosh pit since - well, ever - I am still as punk rock as they come.
Until next,
The Germinatrix
your garden is gorgeous! more pictures please!
wow, so we should look forward to neighborhood nastiness as we systematically rip out our front lawn? ouch!
saw your garden/front yard in Sunset, gorgeous, have pulled it & kept it for inspiration.
You'd be surprised, Stephcat ... I've bumped into all sorts of crazy reactions!
Thanks for the nice words about my garden - I hope my latest revisions make it even better!