There is no time in the garden – M.S. Merwin

Time has a way of getting distorted when I am outside in my garden. It seems to slow down or speed up depending on what I am involved in. Sometimes I find that it stops all together, and then I look around and wonder where the last few minutes went. 

Has this happened to you, a moment when the wafting fragrance of flower blossoms captured your attention and lifted you away? Or when the birdsong around you was louder than the chatter in your head? This exquisite moment of stillness is what I call “stop time.” It can occur while you are cutting back roses, planting geraniums, or even when you are simply sitting in the sun.

It is a moment out of time when you feel a deep connection, for a brief instance, to the green world around you.

We can make those feelings of uplifting reconnection more prevalent in our life simply by taking time to notice the natural world around us. Just as a wine connoisseur relishes that first sip on his tongue, you can learn to savor a flower, a rock, or even a breeze.

The secret is to quietly surrender to the present. Stop thinking of your to-do list and yield to the garden’s pace. When we do that, our internal clock resets itself to the slow heartbeat of the green world. That happened to me last fall when I was planting daffodil bulbs. The day was warm and cloudy, and I had just turned over the soil and raked it (this is so important when planting a quantity of bulbs). I grabbed the bag of bulbs and was setting them all out before digging them in. I was alone in the garden, and there was a point where I became so absorbed in placing those daffodil bulbs that I forgot about anything else.

I admit that sometimes it is hard to disengage from the chatter in my head and have this kind of moment. It is then that I will tell myself to take a deep breath – or a few deep breaths – and relax into the present. I find that inhaling and noticing the scent of damp earth or aromatic plants (like pine or cedar) helps me to focus on the richness that surrounds me. It is such a simple thing to do, yet it helps me appreciate my time in my small but lovely garden.

This kind of “stop time” moment while gardening makes us realize that we are not merely spectators watching a stage but active participants in a living dialogue with the processes of Nature. And how refreshing that is! In a green and growing space, the pressure to "produce" or "finish" dissolves. The garden does not care for deadlines; it understands the sun, the rain, and the workings of the soil. Seeds sprout and bulbs put out roots, all on their own schedule. We can help it along and co-create with Nature, but it is on her terms.  

So learn to savor a garden by looking closely, as a child would, to see the microcosm of aliveness pulsating in the plants and earth. Once you notice this amazing tapestry of life at your feet, you will delight in the little things you find there. And each season offers its own unique doorway into this world: the snowdrop peeking its white petaled head above the snow in the silence of winter, the steady unfurling of a new leaf in spring, or the berries and fruits that slowly appear on certain shrubs and trees in the fall. 

It is a marvel to behold. And gardeners know this. By choosing to linger rather than rush, you can savor that exquisite “stop time” moment, too.