I have always felt that the best gardens aspired to coppice and that the best woods have all the elements of the very best gardens.
Monty DonRead
I use the period between Christmas and New Year to potter about, think and completely change my mindset. In that easy no-man's-land between Boxing Day and New Year, loins are girded and mettle readied. It is time, as we voyagers bid farewell to the old year, to fare forward.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes taking time for reflection and preparing for a new beginning during the transition between years.
Monty Don's quote reflects on the period between Christmas and New Year as a unique opportunity for personal reflection and mental preparation for the challenges ahead. It encourages individuals to pause and consider their mindset, preparing themselves for the new year with intention and resolve, akin to voyagers setting sail for uncharted waters. This 'no-man's-land' serves as a tranquil space to gird one's loins and solidify one's resolve before embarking on fresh journeys.
Themes
ReflectionNew YearChangeMindsetPreparation
In practice
Example use cases
During a New Year's Eve celebration, one might reflect on this quote to encourage others to think about their goals for the coming year.
More from Monty Don
All quotes →I just think that gardening is about the future, a slow thing, that is deep and spiritual as well as spiritually rewarding.
Monty DonRead
Sweet peas should smell. Half the point of growing sweet peas is to cut them for the house; they should fill a room with an almost painful olfactory inarticulateness. But most sweet peas smell of nothing. This does not stop them being beautiful, but they are like food with no flavour.
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Gardening is inevitably a process of constant, remorseless change. It is the constancy of that process that is so comforting, not any fixed moment.
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I am always more interested in people than plants. Nature doesn't make gardens, people make gardens. And the story of a garden is always the story of a person.
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I have learnt that gardens are like happiness: you cannot pursue them as an absolute thing or moment.
Monty DonRead
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