Lois de Vries' Garden Views

Shortly after one of Hurricane Sandy’s giant arms swept through our property last October, someone asked me how my garden fared. My reply? “Garden? What garden?” If that response resonates with you, read on. We were more fortunate than many; none of our 35 downed trees fell on the house, although some missed it by inches. There’s a ton of work ahead of us and little chance to restoring the garden to what it once was. Time to step back and get some perspective. It’s all too easy to get swept up in the hullabaloo that surrounds clean-up efforts and give short shrift to our emotional and spiritual pain. But, like any loss, if we don’t grieve the death of our gardens, it becomes impossible to move on. When we’re able take a longer view, we must acknowledge that this is one of the ways that Nature renews herself. In our case, the forest canopy had nearly closed, meaning that not enough sunlight reaches the forest floor to germinate tree seeds and support new growth. By clearing an openin