Over the past few days we have had a blanket of snow in the North East. Looking out of the window,  I see my garden covered in the snow’s pure whiteness. No signs of life, no colour.

In winter I am reminded of the many creative possibilities the garden holds for me for the year ahead. The garden truly is a blank canvas ready to be painted. Like painters, gardeners too have to think of colours, tones, composition,  linear structures, patterns, light and shading in the creation of their work of art.

Like painting or writing or crafting, sometimes our finished results are far from (or not quite) as we had originally envisioned them to be. Some people find  this stressful and it puts them off utilising their creativity altogether. Personally however, I find it to be most liberating. I enjoy the surprise of seeing how things turn out. One of the most amazing and therapeutic aspects of gardening is the impossibility of maintaining complete control.

In life, most of us try to stay in control. Through micro-managing our own lives and the lives of others, we feel ‘on top of things’ and that we are ‘coping’. This control eventually (and inevitably) wears us down and burns us out. Gardening teaches us to let go of the desire to control everything and instead learn to embrace and enjoy the beauty of things that were not planned, scheduled or expected.

Over the past few weeks I have been in Edinburgh 3 times for hospital appointments and for a badminton tournament. While exploring the city I came across a lovely little coffee shop/community yoga centre. There was a garden outside where you could drink your coffee in little potting sheds. A place where the therapeutic nature of gardening was highly valued and understood. What a great little find!