News from RHSI Walled Garden

In Ulysses,  James Joyce talks about the “ineluctable modality of the visible”, highlighting  how were are dominated most by what we see.

In Gardening, for me it’s the “ineluctable visibility of the edge”.    The edge defines everything.  Though I am not a fan of the formal garden, my own is one full of plants and trees that were let grow where they self-seed, even in an informal garden the edge plays a critical role.
Edges set off what you see, even when they are not visible (swamped by catmint), you know they are there and they define what you think you see.

In Russborough, when you turn a corner on a path, it is the  edges that set off what you see.   They show scale and weight of the planting, they communicate the enormity of the planting in the herbaceous borders, the number of fruit bushes and the impact of the espaliered apple trees.   Consider the difference between a row of apple trees with and without a clear edge.  This year the apple blossoms have been amazing (think Van Gogh’s almond blossoms painting).

From the end of last year, a bunch of us volunteers have been clearing these edges, making them defined and arresting.  The results are, I think, excellent.  For many its flowers or vegetables, for others its cacti or trees, for me its edges !