The balance of light in the garden

Have you noticed how the light changes in your garden from season to season?

|
Courtesy of Helen Yoest
During the growing season, the leaves on the trees present a cathedral-like feeling.
|
Courtesy of Helen Yoest
As the leaves fall in autumn, more light filters through to the garden below.
|
Courtesy of Helen Yoest
Once they're devoid of leaves, tree branches can be seen to add structure to the winter landscape.

Fall

As I mourn the loss of daylight hours, I relish the gain in light with each leaf that falls. Autumn begins my survival for winter; without the leaves decent, I would be frightened by the lack of luster that only bright light can bring.

Each time I step outside, more light appears. It’s slow, but apparent. Light seems to change just when I need it to. It’s as if nature is adjusting a balance -- tree canopies sit on the left pan of the scale, light sits on the right.  Brightness is balanced as the trees' leaves fall. If the hours in the day are to lessen, then the leaves must move to bring in brightness.

It may seem like a dichotomy for someone to be claustrophobic and to seek cover of nature’s cocooning, but I do. There’s comfort under the canopy of trees. [See first photo above.] Shielded from the light, cooled by shade, and relaxed by the regulated radiance, trees' leaves give me contentment.

I’m also equally content sitting on the ground under an open sky, particularly in the winter.

Even though the falling leaves of autumn are warning us of winter to come, this process is a welcome necessity to balance the light for the shorter days. When it happens, I’m reminded of how much I miss the openness of the garden. [See second photo above. Click on the arrow at the right base of the first photo to see the second and third photos.]

Winter

If I can’t control the length of day, I’m happy to lend a hand in the amount of light that lands on my garden, Helen’s Haven. Deciduous trees have been planted so I can balance the light in my winter garden and my mood. Creating seasonal tenor with the change in flora builds a better garden through diversity, and a way to add seasonal interest.

Even with the shorter days, I welcome winter to view the open garden. My garden is exposed and bright, the branches of the trees are bare and open for inspection. [See third photo above.] As I look up in my winter garden, the framework of my summer’s cathedral-like canopy forms uncluttered lines of communication for confessions. I share all of my professions as I tend to my land. Winter is not my favorite season, but I built a garden that allows me to enjoy this time more than I ever thought possible.

Spring

Just when I need it the most, the scale begins to tip. The days are growing longer and the trees begin to leaf. The leaves tend to improve my mood. Life all around me stirs as the days lengthen. Fresh and bright, most trees have glowing green leaves in spring. This wonder has me looking up to slowly watch the sky close in. As days broaden, the balance changes -- the tree canopy on the left pan of the scale fills in, the light on the right balances out. It’s perfection at its best.

Summer

The cloak of summer’s canopy -- with a cathedral-like quality -- reveals greenery hovering down, allowing sunlight to lightly kiss my cheek. The leaves of the trees are welcomed in summer to manage heat, intensity, and length of the season. Comfort is sought under the canopy of the trees.

Then the cycle begins again.

If you’ve lived in an area for a period of time, you become programed to the seasons. Just when you’re ready for a change, the scales begin to tip, and it’s always in my favor.

-----

Helen Yoest is one of more than a dozen garden experts who blog regularly at Diggin' It. She lives in North Carolina and is the author of the book "Gardening With Confidence -- 50 Ways to Add Style for Personal Creativity." She's a garden writer, speaker, and garden coach. She's also a field editor for Better Homes and Gardens and Country Gardens magazines and serves on the board of advisers for the JC Raulston Arboretum. You can follow Helen on Twitter and Facebook. To read more by Helen here at Diggin' It, click here.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to The balance of light in the garden
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Gardening/diggin-it/2012/1129/The-balance-of-light-in-the-garden
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe