boundaries

People like and are fascinated by those who think outside the box.  The box has boundaries. What does the word boundary mean? a line that marks the limit of an area. A border, a partition. People don’t want to be boxed in. some feel neither do plants. Many people feel nature has no boundaries in the instance of plants, they seem to be able to grow almost any and everywhere.

Is it because they have no boundaries or is it because they were designed in such a way to find opportunity for growth? But plants do have boundaries. Plants that grow in full sun has shade as it’s boundary and plants that thrive in shade have the boundary of the sunny space inches away from it. Plants do not grow where their growth is not tolerated. Most full sun plants do not tolerate shade. They either die or do not perform at their best. Ironically some of the best wild looking gardens are designed.

I tolerate my clients wanting to grow plants not native to the region but from the same country and plants not native to the country all together. But there must be a boundary. The boundary, the box would be me advising my client to make sure they know the source of their plants especially from outside the country. Without that boundary gardeners have succumbed to plants and insects becoming invasive species, clogging up waterways, breaking through infrastructure, insects defoliating trees and plants creating massive amounts of dead plant matter, super fuel for wildfires, altering decades and centuries old ecosystems.

Some of the species are fascinating and sometimes even beautiful to look at and admire, but at what cost? Who could have thought that a plant or insect could years later lead to loss of land, plant, animal, and human life?

So it is really the presence of plant life that have no boundary or border. Plants are everywhere but not every plant is everywhere. Boundaries. Certain plants live only in certain climates and environments. What happens when boundaries are not respected. Chaos. What is chaos? Complete disorder and confusion. The natural world seems chaotic or wild (uncultivated or unmanaged) but there is order. The order in which the seasons present themselves. The order of a plant’s growth cycle and the order of the water cycle.

The elegant and intricate design of the natural world seems to conflict with the definition of chaos.

….but that is just me.