Review by Martha Quillen
Gardening – June 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Zen of Gardening – In the High and Arid West
by David Wann
Published by Fulcrum; copyright 2003
ISBN 1-55591-457-8
THE ZEN OF GARDENING is a tribute to organic gardening with plenty of useful information on how to go about it.
Wann’s book is clear and readable, with handy lists and charts – of mulches, organic fertilizers, high-altitude plants, hardy shrubs and trees for windbreaks, and more. And you don’t have to read every page. Zen has an extensive table of contents and a good index so that you can go right to what you need or want.
The book also has a downright comedic introduction. “Who says plants need warm nights or water?” Wann asks.
“The truth is, the horticultural zones written about in this book – mostly USDA Zones 4,5, and sometimes 6 – are often Twilight Zones of frustration. (‘Imagine a piece of land,’ drones Rod Serling, ‘where nothing wants to grow….’)”
Wann tells readers how to grow organic vegetable gardens, ornamentals, and landscapes, and stirs gardeners away from noxious chemicals and toxic weeds. He also explains ways to make small amounts of land and water produce. But Zen’s best quality is its compassion.
Wann accepts that things seldom go quite as planned, and he encourages gardeners to relax, enjoy and learn. “I’ve read gardening and farming books by the bushel, as if they were detective novels,” Wann writes. “But when it comes to growing things, the most valuable education is definitely the hands on knowledge. From year to year, a plant person builds a foundation of basic skills by being out there, doing one experiment after another.”
“Don’t Let Onions Make You Cry!” he cautions.
“The best you can hope for, I think, is to spend many delightful, mindless hours out there – feeling, smelling, and touching the seasons, and trying heroically to keep things alive until rainy days return. Anytime you look at your watch and what seemed like twenty minutes was actually two hours, you know you’re in the right place … Fortunately, when you let time go loose in the garden, you’ve escaped the fearful, guilt-ridden clutches of deadlines, and instead given yourself a lifeline.”
David Wann tries to give his readers all of the information they’ll need to grow luscious greens and beautiful flowers. But in his view, the primary goal of gardening is to enjoy the labor, taste the fruits, and create a better place.
