Walking the neighbourhood

No need to be bored on your daily constitutional. There’s a great way to make time pass: give the ancient art of garden-reading a go. Little do the householders that you stroll past each day realise they have laid their personalities bare in their front gardens just waiting for you to analyse. Surreptitiously check them out by pretending to take a breather. Here’s a few neighbourly types you might encounter. Plenty more listed in subsequent posts.

Aggressive. Aggressive people grow noisy gardens. They have large barking dogs. Their iron gates clang shut. There’s often a loud splashing fountain. They prefer leathery plants that make a strong statement like rubber plants and agaves. There’s lots of hard surfaces – all the better for striding on. There’s a strong line between garden and path to keep the plants constrained. It gives the owner a feeling of power.

Free spirits. Their gardens are a jungle. Bushes overflow the front fence so you have to step off the footpath to continue your walk. You can’t see the house for the vegetation. These people don’t believe in discipline. Bonsai is anathema to them. Some might call these gardens unkempt. The owners feel creative, unstructured, free.

DINKS. Double income, no kids. Their gardens not only look expensive, they positively exude taste. They are designed to show that within live persons with not only money, but discrimination. Finding the right landscaper to achieve this has been a dinner party chore lasting months. Clues to look for are a pair of cumquats, or possibly two clipped box trees, in matching wooden tubs flanking the front door. Or a grove of palest pink sasanquas bordering a sandstone flagged courtyard.

August 2018