The long view

Looking down the length of the roof on Mark's fence across the back of our garden. Now those shingles are moss covered and some have fallen off. The tree in the foreground is the old cherry tree that got taken down last winter. 

A good reminder that short term thinking doesn't work well in a garden. The start of a new year is a good time for me to remember that it also doesn't always work that well in life itself. 

Comments

[Kris P]

We're all guilty of allowing short-term practicality to avoid the challenges of longer-term solutions.

[Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening]

Even a long term solution doesn't protect you against dissolution and decay. Some roofs last longer than others; some would have lasted longer if it hadn't been for (fill in the blank). Eventually any roof will need replacing. I'm really not just talking about roofing materials, but extending your metaphor. I think we actually need both kinds of thinking: the 20-year plan and the recognition that you could die tonight.

[Beth@PlantPostings]

Such wisdom in your words. I've been contemplating some of these thoughts lately, too.

[Janet]

The green lushness is a welcome sight on these dreary winter days. What are the low growing plants to the left of the fence?

[Linda Brazill]

JANET — That is a photo that is probably 25 years old and mostly shows my neighbor's yard left of the fence. That neighbor and those plants are both long gone. I think they might be Cimicifuga.

[Linda Brazill]

BETH — It must be all the gray January days we've had that have got us thinking this way!

[Elizabeth]

I am reminded of my father, who purchased his property for the trees, not the house. When I bought my own house, it was necessary to cut down the Norfolk Island Pine that a previous owner had planted not three feet away from the house. I am my father's daughter and, though it had to be done, it was painful to do. You and Mark did the right thing, then and now.