spring has sprung (behind my back)
May. 6th, 2014 08:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deird1You guys. Europe is so pretty.
I mean, yeah. I knew this. I've been drooling over pictures of England for years. But it really is.
What do I mean by this?
1) The grass is green. Like, really.
2) There are forests. Actual forests.
3) The forests are clear at ground level, so you can see through them rather than having two-metres-tall ferns in every direction.
4) The trees are really good at that whole "dappled sunlight" thing.
5) There are pretty flowers everywhere.
But mostly... it's the European gardens thing.
When I say "European gardens", I don't just mean "gardens that happen to exist on the continent of Europe". It's actually a type of garden – one I have often seen in Australia.
You see, when the colonists first came over to Australia, they had to leave behind their gardens. Gardens which were full of neat flowerbeds, manicured lawns, and trimmed hedges. Gardens sort of like this:
Or this:
And, being rather sentimental, they came to Australia and promptly started trying to replant their beautiful European gardens in the good old Aussie dirt. It... didn't work very well.
We have different soil, different weather, different temperatures, and different... just about everything else that you need for gardening. So the European gardens in Australia take an awful lot of work, and still never quite live up to their full potential. Quite a few people realised this, and have instead planted beautiful gardens full of native plants. They're lovely – but end up in quite a different style to the European ones.
So, the nice gardens I have seen have been 50% gorgeous native gardens, and 50% kind-of-nice European gardens. Now, though... I'm in Europe. And just walking down the street, I will see the gardens that the Australian European gardens are shooting for. THEY'RE GORGEOUS.
It makes me feel sorry for the settlers. They had to leave their pretty pretty gardens behind, put in twice as much effort for a much more lackluster result, and didn't really have the know-how with native plants to do anything as lovely with them.
(BRB, enjoying the outdoors.)
I mean, yeah. I knew this. I've been drooling over pictures of England for years. But it really is.
What do I mean by this?
1) The grass is green. Like, really.
2) There are forests. Actual forests.
3) The forests are clear at ground level, so you can see through them rather than having two-metres-tall ferns in every direction.
4) The trees are really good at that whole "dappled sunlight" thing.
5) There are pretty flowers everywhere.
But mostly... it's the European gardens thing.
When I say "European gardens", I don't just mean "gardens that happen to exist on the continent of Europe". It's actually a type of garden – one I have often seen in Australia.
You see, when the colonists first came over to Australia, they had to leave behind their gardens. Gardens which were full of neat flowerbeds, manicured lawns, and trimmed hedges. Gardens sort of like this:
Or this:
And, being rather sentimental, they came to Australia and promptly started trying to replant their beautiful European gardens in the good old Aussie dirt. It... didn't work very well.
We have different soil, different weather, different temperatures, and different... just about everything else that you need for gardening. So the European gardens in Australia take an awful lot of work, and still never quite live up to their full potential. Quite a few people realised this, and have instead planted beautiful gardens full of native plants. They're lovely – but end up in quite a different style to the European ones.
So, the nice gardens I have seen have been 50% gorgeous native gardens, and 50% kind-of-nice European gardens. Now, though... I'm in Europe. And just walking down the street, I will see the gardens that the Australian European gardens are shooting for. THEY'RE GORGEOUS.
It makes me feel sorry for the settlers. They had to leave their pretty pretty gardens behind, put in twice as much effort for a much more lackluster result, and didn't really have the know-how with native plants to do anything as lovely with them.
(BRB, enjoying the outdoors.)
no subject
Date: 2014-05-06 07:16 am (UTC)Gabrielle
no subject
Date: 2014-05-06 01:46 pm (UTC)