Any thoughts?

Interesting to see it in such concise terms.

This is the way I've been blundering along my entire adult life, and, naive person that I am, I thought it was simply the right way to go about life. No?

It is why I questioned the aerial spraying of broad-spectrum pesticides for gypsy moth control hah)in 1981. Why I continued with my gardening endeavors when others were certain I would fail; back when shade-loving perennials, other than plain green hosta, were something unknown hereabouts and I was pooh-poohed out of one garden center after another when I wanted something other than the usual begonia/impatiens/hosta prescription; when there was no internet (ohhh, I'm dating myself) and the few mail order nurseries catered to the elite, with prices in their glossy catalogs as stunning as their stock. And why I kept a compost pile and shredded my leaves and mulched my grass, even though these things all made me the neighborhood weirdo because it's soooo much easier to use the blue stuff after you've used the other stuff to kill all the weeds and bugs (because ALL bugs are bad anyway, right?) I'm sure they all had a clue that something was amiss when they saw I didn't trim my forsythia, azaleas and other shrubs into eggs, boxes and meatballs.

Oh, Ink, you were looking for deep, meaningful discussion and I respond with a rant. A good-natured one, though. A good book along these lines is "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci" by Michael J. Gelb. From a study of the man and his methods, Gelb listed the Seven Da Vincian Principles, which, by the way he says "will probably be intuitively obvious to you. You do not have to try to invent them in your life. Rather, like much of common sense, they need to be remembered, developed, and applied."

Curiosita - An insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
Dimostrazione - A commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.
Sensazione - The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience.
Sfumato (literally "Going up in Smoke") - A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty.
Arte/Scienza - The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination. "Whole-brain" thinking.
Coroporalita - The cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.
Connessione - A recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena. Systems thinking.

Now, for a discussion on these principles, as well as some interesting exercises for developing them, one will have to read the book ... I hope I've inspired someone to do so.

Diane

Sounds really exotic in whatever language that is Diane, I think I might change my screen name to "Curiosita".

Another book?

Gelb wrote them in da Vinci's native language, Italian. Say them with feeling and they're rather catchy, I think ... Or is it just because I'm from New Jersey and work at a park formerly owned by Vito Genovese? LOL

Sorry about the typo in #6, that should be corporalita.

Diane

so how about some photographs of your gardens?

You first.

About picturtes, see saypoint's reply on this thread.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fantasy gardens

Hey dickens, sounds like you got the part where it says

Tendency to invent private systems

i wish i had such a garden. for the time being i live in an apartment with no access to ground, so i am biding my time growing things for future use... so i have been germinating tons of seeds and propagating through cuttings.

inkognito, i am not sure if you are referring to my other posting that was linked to above and commending me for my interest in the "private" or personal systems of others, or if it is just a really boring jab at me for being interested in ways that others have decided to create their own personal gardens.

Neither, I just found it strange that you seemed to have randomly picked on this thread to announce your totally unconnected need. This is a quite unusual private system from where I sit.

I don't think it's random or unconnected... I am interested in what kind of garden somebody with such lofty ideals would create... like how would you translate those values into a vision or system of gardening? I think it's an interesting idea.

Why would someone "with lofty ideals" have to have a "system" for gardening?

Perhaps I'm interpreting "system" too narrowly.

Creating a garden is a unique blend of art and science. It's truly the most fascinating and frustrating subject I've ever studied (though Canadian constitutional law comes a close scond).

If you take the time to search through past threads, you will see a few photos of Ink's garden. They are well worth the effort.

Well, if I'd taken pictures of the gardens before last Sunday's hail storm, I'd be glad to post them. Right now, though, they're recovering from the trauma.

I think I already answered the question "how would you translate those values into a vision or system of gardening?" by illustration. Specifically:

Curiosity as a way of thinking -
I wonder what different plants might thrive in, or at least tolerate, these conditions?

Suspicion of authority and conventional wisdom -
I suspect that there may be options my neighbors and these garden center guys don't know about ... or don't want me to know about.

Respect for intelligently filtered history -
OK, this one's tough at the moment, but "You'll never grow grass because I've never been able to grow grass" is not exactly an "intelligently filtered history" that I would respect.

Aspiration to higher levels of achievement -
Easy: I aspire to a garden that is more/better than the run-of-the-mill. A garden that includes shade-loving, native plants, that will provide food and shelter for birds and beneficial insects as well as beauty, joy and inspiration year 'round.

Vision for renewed potential in all things -
Sandy soil, devoid of nutrients, with little capacity to hold water or nutrients ... how can this be improved upon or turned into a positive? Oh, and the no-longer-used-still-sturdy-but-now-in-the-way two-story playtower my oldest son built (at age 16) for his little brothers: as it was being dismantled to make way for a small greenhouse I realized it could be reconfigured into a nice little gazebo and set by the side of the koi pond. Nestled under a dogwood among hydrangeas, pieris, mock-orange, perennials and spring-flowering bulbs, it now has orchids hanging on the posts, baskets from the beams and rails, and a hardy jasmine climbing up one corner post (and probably countless spiders under its floor).

Tendency to invent private systems -
How to identify, locate and acquire appropriate plant material - at an affordable price - when it is not readily available. And if I can't improve the soil in my entire yard in one fell swoop, and get all the plants I need now, how can I phase this in over time, and yet have it look at least decent while still a work-in-progress? (Though I have come to realize it will be a work in progress as long as there's breath in me ... and that's exactly as it should be.)

Reinvention and perfection of former skills -
researching, networking, experimenting, project management (as it's now called) ...

Accepting the challenge of the difficult -
All of the above ... while A) working full-time (in order to afford this obsession) and later B) taking care of young children and, finally, C) working full-time again, but now a little older, with less stamina, a much crankier back ... and even more ideas!

As I said before, for me it's been interwoven in all facets of my life, personally and professionally. I took it for granted that everyone thought this way, but was rather rudely disabused of that notion. In fact, I've discovered it sometimes frightens people, causing them to become defensive, hostile and/or ridicule the person or concept. On the other hand, the people I have met and known who exemplified the aforementioned eight Renaissance principles, which so closely resemble Gelb's da Vincian principles, have been among the most interesting, congenial, open-minded, and generous people I have ever encountered.

Sorry if I have come off as being rude! I guess I got a bit defensive, although, of course, my request, laid out with no context as to why I would ask for photos, was probably very lazy of me.

scraplolly... I didn't really mean "system" as a rigid, inflexible thing... but more so I meant to say how does one translate specific values into a way of doing things, in this specific case gardening.

I ask because I am sort of new to gardening, I have never really had the space to garden, only keep houseplants; and even now, my garden is really just a collection of seedlings and cuttings in containers on my roof, so I have no real frame of reference for what gardening can mean, beyond a pleasant pastime or way of dressing up drab spaces, which is what it seems to be for most people. And so, I suppose I asked for photos on this thread, as opposed to others, because inkognito seems to be implying that he/she has a more meaningful view of what it means to garden, and I am curious to see how this belief would translate into practice. I guess mainly I am interested in seeing how people who think about what they are doing would garden, and am interested in knowing what it is that they are thinking about that leads them to make the choices they make when gardening. I realize I could just google images, but what is the fun in that? I would rather hear from people directly.

A quite different question within that context dickens and one with some value. gardenstateofmind fleshes out the theory so it may serve you well to look at a lot of gardens and see if there is any of this theory at work. The 8 principles came from a web site for painters but I thought some may also apply to garden design as well, if one viewed that as art. So study gardens in books, on the web and in real life and see if any of this resonates with you.