Verb in the Garden

1 - Devi with the Ivy

"A garden without its statue is like a sentence without its verb."

~  Joseph W. Beach 

My little nephew, who is almost two years now, likes to speak in sentences without much use of verbs. That's okay for a baby. Even okay for casual speech or writing by an adult :)

But for a garden, it is absolutely no no. A garden of whichever size - small, medium or big, even a balcony or terrace garden with only potted plants - always needs its verb, I mean its sculpture. While a verb generally represents an action or being in motion, a garden sculpture is something that provides a type of groundedness for all the delicate green stuff around, in a way it makes it more bound to the place, the earth itself. This is what I have always sort of intuitively felt.

A garden sculpture doesn't have to be an expensive statue in granite or some other massive marvel in stone, even small beautifully carved terracotta figurines or other object d'art made of natural material that provides a sculptural interest can work wonders in beautifying our little green living spaces.

Ok, that's enough of my little amateur landscape design tip. It is time now for a few more pictures from my somewhat wild and over-grown tiny little garden, with its appropriate verbs and wines!

2 - Amidst the greens, yellows, reds and whites

3 - Guardian 

4 - Seated in a corner

And I have saved the best for last.

The picture below is NOT from my garden, but oh how I wish it would be! I am not sure, however, if I can create something like this or if I even want to create something like this in the little open space I have. But this is an image of a serene Japanese garden that I have always found so beautifully inspiring and aesthetically pleasing, just looking at it I feel trasported to a quiet place within.

5 - Tranquil

Knowing that a place like this exists is enough to give me joy, peace and contentment. Why wish to possess it?

Picture credits: 1-4 are photos from my garden, 1,2, 3 - Suhas Mehra, 4 - Sugrutha Kamat,
5 - Source unknown