Pruning

I like to prune plants in my garden. In fact, in order to maintain a natural look, I must restrain myself from pruning too precisely and too often. I am not aiming for topiary bunny rabbits. I will leave that to Ms. Stewart. I find pruning satisfying, because I often feel the plants are better for my attention. I feel the act of pruning, during which I caress stems and leaves and dead flowers, is a time of connection with the living beings in my garden, whose lives are so different from mine. I once conversed with a spirit about plants through a medium. Many years ago. The spirit spoke of having lived in one incarnation as a tree for over two hundred years in a forest where he never saw a human being. I have always remembered that conversation and the awe it inspired in me. I know gardeners who are shy of pruning. In my experience, they have been people who are themselves very afraid of loss. I have lost enough to see loss as a part of the cycles of life, along with gain and death. So, pruning is part of my meditative practice, and I am grateful for this chance to be happy in a garden where I belong.