Jun 17 2008
Taking a Page from Nature
This weekend, I went for a nice long hike with my family for Father’s Day. It was a nice day, not too warm and the shade from the trees provided the perfect backdrop for tranquil moods. Sunlight filtered through the trees leaving little pools of yellow light on the forest floor and the earth around us was a cascade of greens and browns. Large ferns nestled in between the dark browns of decaying trees and wild flowers found a spaces of sunlight to stretch out there weary petals and grab hold of the faint rays.
It was beautiful and it got me thinking about elements that I would like to see in my garden. That in turn made me think about sharing those ideas with you, the readers of Savvy Gardening. So what exactly am I getting at? It’s simple, when you are designing your own garden, take a few minutes to take some things from nature.
Okay, I probably lost you there since nature is abundant in a garden but I mean it in a more inspirational way. Have you ever taken a photograph of a forest path? When you 
stop and look at the pictures you can look at it and find a haphazard mess with trees leaning everywhere and plants growing wherever there is space and sunlight. It might not be the exact image that you have for a garden but if you stop and take a closer look you can find so many points that you could incorporate into your garden.
Forest ferns may provide the perfect shade of green in one corner of your garden. The path that gently meanders around trees that are hundreds of years old may provide you with a layout for your own garden path. The carefree sprinkling of wild flowers can give you an array of colors to pull out of the 
picture and into your own garden. There are a million ways to be inspired from nature around us an it is very easy to start using the nature in your yard to build up flower beds and ponds.
For me, I have already decided on incorporating a few more ferns, adding a few more trees and I have plotted out a patch in my yard where I would like to plant wildflowers. The hike has given me endless inspiration and that is really what you should pull from nature; the inspiration to create a garden of untold delights.
Happy Gardening,
Sirena Van Schaik
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