I need to weed my garden

My mum would always look at my garden and say, “I’ll come and help you,” which was always code for, “your garden’s a mess.” I would get frustrated that she felt pulling weeds out of the ground should matter to me, when living on my own running 2 businesses and having a house to maintain.

“I don’t live in the garden,” would always be my comment.

When I first moved in I’d dug up the grass, laid weed fabric down and covered it with slate in an effort to keep the garden looking neat.

Looking back, I’d removed a beautiful wild area in order to bow to common opionion and social conditioning around gardens being, “tidy,” and, “looking loved.”

The weeds always found their way through, “pull them up before they seed,” was what I’d get told. “This grass is impossible to remove, it just keeps coming back.” Even the neighbours putting their noses in and commenting on the lack of gardening activity. I’d always feel guilty.

Now? I’m pulling up the weed fabric, scattering wild flower seeds, letting the garden take care of itself. It’s not, “MY garden.” I don’t live in it, but lots of other beings do. It’s a shared space and I can influence it for the best interests of those who visit it for food, sanctuary, a home. Insects are so much more important than what my neighbours think.

Take care of the “littlies, for without them there are no “biggies”

I find myself cheering for the little green lives that fight their way out of the cracks, against all odds to breathe life.

“Why do you call me a weed?” I am strong, resillient, your attempts to kill me don’t stop me trying to live. I am anything but a, “weed,” I am not weak.

You spray us with chemicals, you even try to burn us to death. But this is not one of your wars, resorting to chemical warfare, just because you’ve been conditioned to see your outdoor space as a controllable environment.

Your, “weed killers,” not only harm us but they harm those who depend on us. The irony of the situation is that YOU ALL depend on us and our insect visitors to survive.

Why do you insist that wild, free nature must be neat? “Your lawn,” is made up of a network of kingdoms of life both above and below the surface. Are your “pleasing lines,” more desirable than the health of the eco system?