The perfect garden (or even worse, the perfect lawn!) is almost a badge of honour, something to be achieved and then shown off like a trophy on the mantelpiece. This search for perfection happens often in our lives – we seek the perfect word, the perfect skin, the perfect cup of tea.

But the perfect garden is surely unachievable, if by perfect we mean ‘nothing out of place.’ Flawless. There will surely always be a corner that you haven’t had time to ‘tidy’ or ‘clean’… unless resources are seemingly unlimited…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8D2SYVaULw

But what this does (beautiful as the space is) is move itself further away from perfection by trying too hard… the mind, the eye, the thought process becomes accustomed to this level of ‘flawlessness’ and then seeks it constantly, competing almost to capture what lurks beyond the nth degree… (and good luck getting there…)

“Who has not asked himself at some time or other: am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?”

Brazilian author Clarice Lispector

If the perfect (flawless, nothing out of place) garden is unachievable, what then do we aim for?

How about curious… interesting… something with a little texture…

By all means set high standards. Strive to achieve them. But perfection is about more than control – the perfect garden is one where simple things are done well, you don’t have to make excuses or claim ‘you should have it seen it last week…’ and the plants grow well and can be enjoyed…

“Don’t forget, that this is the season for strawberries. Yes.”

Clarice Lispector (who obviously knew what made the perfect garden.)

(For a few more ideas on the perfect garden, check out these books – the first is the designer Fernando Caruncho…)