This is a psychological assessment

I have a theory that if you want to know someone properly, don’t look at their wardrobe, their bookshelf, or even their Spotify playlist. Look at their garden. A garden is personality made visible. Mine certainly is.

For starters, my garden would tell you that I have an almost pathological need for symmetry. I’m deeply uncomfortable in a house where the pictures on the wall are crooked. Not just wildly crooked, but also slightly crooked. A millimetre off level is enough to make me quietly contemplate fetching a spirit level while pretending to listen to your story. Balance matters to me. There are two firewood boxes either side of my fireplace because one firewood box would look lonely and unfinished. One on each side feels right. Order restored.

My perennial borders are the same. Two mirrored borders with an avenue down the middle. The plants on one side repeated on the other. Symmetry. Balance. Order. Peace.

The idea of one side having something the other doesn’t would irritate me every time I looked at it. Unfortunately, plants are not always terribly interested in supporting my emotional wellbeing so irritation is my constant companion. One side receives more morning sun. The other receives more afternoon sun. Microclimates exist purely, I suspect, to keep gardeners humble. One side flowers earlier than the other. One side grows taller. One side thrives while the other side sulks dramatically for reasons known only to itself. My beautiful symmetry develops the horticultural equivalent of a wonky eyebrow. It irks me more than is probably reasonable. But gardens, much like children and Labradors, have a tendency to become their own people eventually and I’m learning to accept this with partial grace.

And then there’s the other side of my personality.

Hi free subscribers…

Gosh, do I really want you going beyond this particular paywall? I’m not so sure. You’d have an insight into what some might consider to be a very peculiar personality, expressed entirely through garden decor. Venture beyond the paywall with caution. Once you know these things, you can never unknow them….