Gardening as a Subversive Activity - Part Two

What Will The Neighbors Say?

Sure, you can bet the neighbors will talk. You might even get into trouble with your homeowners association. Well, if you can’t save the world because of zoning clauses and restrictions, see if you can get them amended. If that won’t work, saving half of the world you live in most is better than nothing: turn to your back yard and make it your own, personal harmonious garden. No one has to know. Think of it as your stealth garden, that thing just behind the fence your neighbor can’t see over, the one all the birds and butterflies are flocking to. It’s the effort that counts and you’ll still sleep better knowing you’re “sticking it to the man.” Especially if you get your efforts certified. For a $15.00 application fee, you can get the National Wildlife Federation http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat to make it official with a “beautiful personalized certificate suitable for framing.” For an extra $25.00, you can get an outdoor sign announcing to all the world (or at least to those in your backyard stealth garden) that you are certifiable in your convictions. I got mine on December 8, 1994, certificate number 15036 and, although I no longer live there, I know the sign still stands proudly in my harmonious garden and that it is still bringing peace and a good night’s sleep to the home’s new occupants. In fact, knowing the greenscaping was “registered” helped sell the house which is a unique point: harmonious gardens done right can increase the value of your home. Talk about a radical concept!

Oh, how subversive! How exciting it all is! I bet you never thought gardening could be so stimulating. Well, that depends on where you live and how much you value your right to grow a “peace-generating garden.” I think in most instances you’ll be able to get away with it� until your subversive garden starts to grow.

“Are those weeds?”
“Where’s the order?”
“Where’s the grass?”
“Are you freaking nuts?”

Or you might hear nothing. When I planted my first harmonious garden, my neighbors grew quiet and smiled weakly at me when I said hello. In time they came to appreciate what was going on across the street especially when they realized I had given up mowing the lawn for watching my garden grow. That one always wins them over in the end even if they don’t mow their own lawns because they realize someone is saving money on gardener fees and it ain’t them.

Resisting change is probably part of our human nature. New ideas rarely are accepted right off the bat�especially when they challenge our way of looking at the world.

Or at least our neighborhoods.

After a few months your new subversive garden will speak for you in the subtle voice of a songbird and through the bold colors of blooming wildflowers, reminding all who see it that this is the natural way of the world, that harmony, frugality, and common sense reside across the street.

D.C. Copeland is a writer and award-winning artist. In 1970, he co-founded Ecology Action of Florida which combined recycling and working the disadvantaged. When visiting Copeland’s personal website and blog http://www.miamivisionblogarama.blogspot.com/, you will discover that Wayne Cochran is the Patron Saint and that many people consider it to be “The Rodney Dangerfield of Blogs.”