Our slightly wonky walnut tree
Mother nature never fails to amaze me with her brilliance and her determination.
Over the years, I’ve struggled in my garden, trying hard to achieve a particular ‘look’ I was chasing at the time. Despite a strong will and constant attention, a fair amount of sweat and the occasional tear, those well-intentioned plans rarely grew into the mature reality I had hoped for.
But occasionally, mother nature would pity me and reward me with an unexpected pairing of colours or a combination of textures. Or something that she had conjured up, of her very own making: A patch of wild yellow primroses. An invasion of wild strawberries. A mix of wild poppies and bluebells. These creations far surpassed the beauty of my attempts at serious, plan-based horticulture.
Every time I come across a self-seeded sapling springing up from an unlikely spot, I stop and wonder.
I think to myself, “had I wanted to plant it there, there would be zero chance it would ever grow…”.
A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled, quite literally, over a baby fig tree, a few inches high, growing through thick tarmac on the side of a road crossing a massive 120m-high concrete dam.
Just what was it doing there?
I have a toddler oak tree in one corner of my garden, which has pushed through and then settled itself in dust-thin, root-ridden soil, slap bang between two mature ash trees.
And then, there is our slightly wonky walnut tree.
It started life in a compost heap. My husband uncovered a split walnut shell, presumably stored and then forgotten by a local squirrel. Its stem had sprouted and then sharply bent backwards as it searched for light under heavy-rotting greenery.
We were amazed to find it and planted it up, thinking it would probably not come to much.
But we were wrong.
Five years on, it’s a beautiful specimen, its stem with a large kink, which just adds to its elegance. Its leaves form a green umbrella-like canopy during the summer months. I watch it slowly grow like one of the kids, marking the passage of time.
We can’t expect any nuts for a few more years… perhaps never… but that’s ok. It’s a perfect product of mother nature.
I hope you enjoyed this article. Thanks for reading!
Mel at greengardenliving.com.
