May/June 2008 Living Now
The Conscious Gardener

by Michael J. Roads

Your garden is a potential interface between you and nature. Every gardener knows that the secret of a green thumb is love. Therein lies the interface. Whenever we are working with plants, animals or people we love, we connect with the greater whole. In these moments of wholeness, we touch into an expanded view of life and nature.

My great rule of gardening is observation and application. Of course, this is equally applicable in our daily lives. When traveling in England one year, I visited an elderly woman who had made a deep impression on me during my adolescent years. She was that rare personification of whole-hearted goodness.

As we walked in her big, rambling, overgrown garden, she told me about her five very large old apple trees. Two of them were attacked by codling moth maggots in the fruit every year, while the other three trees had fruit of excellent quality. It was always the same two trees that suffered from infestation.

Our discussion moved on as we continued walking around her garden. I mentioned the properties of compost and mulch. If a fruit tree has its potential need of nutrients fully met, then it acquires a greater immunity to insect pests and disease. I continued on, telling her about the relationship between apple trees and mycorrhiza fungi, which is beneficial for the plant root system.

She listened intently, becoming quite excited. Clutching my arm, she led me to the scattered apple trees. Under three of the trees she had a large, long-established compost heap, while under the remaining two trees there was nothing but grass. I hardly need say which trees were attacked by the codling moth each year.

Observation and application: In all those many years she had never once observed that it was the trees with the compost heaps that were immune to the codling moth. Their roots were permanently engaged with a whole spectrum of nutrients, along with the essential mycorrhiza.

Observation goes with being aware and conscious. The eyes of my elderly friend had seen the compost heaps under the thriving trees countless times. Her brain had no choice but to register this, but the holistic connection was missing. This is where conscious observation is different. When you are observing from a holistic viewpoint, you instantly see the more non-apparent connections. The brain may well see the connection between what it perceives as random parts, but the open heart sees everything as whole, making observations that the brain cannot grasp. The brain needs to understand what it sees, while the open heart already knows what it sees. This is the way nature works.

Good Neighbors

Observation in my garden has clearly shown that there are plants that do not thrive in the company of certain other plants. Roses, for example, like garlic and chives near them and benefit from them, but they really do not like tulip bulbs. This is generally caused by the roots exuding certain substances into the surrounding soil that suits some plants and disturbs others.

I have an unusual fragrant oleander growing next to a wild hibiscus, and it is not happy with the situation. The energy of the hibiscus is strong, wild and unrestrained, while the energy of the fragrant oleander is not at all vigorous. This is what I call a mismatch. This fall I'll move the fragrant oleander and look for a more suitable neighbor.

It is a good idea to observe the plants in your garden, and if you have an ailing plant, look at its neighbor. Incompatible plant energy is far more common than realized. Whereas science always wants a physical reason it can understand and relate to, the field of energy that surrounds each plant is not easily measured by conventional means.

A perfect example is the distressed energy of all seedlings when planted - one moment growing happily, then suddenly pulled out and replanted in a different place. The average gardener is oblivious to the distress emanating from the tiny plants. Individual containers with each seedling in its own compartment help alleviate planting shock. For the conscious gardener, learn to feel the energy of plants. With the feeling comes the intuitive solution to their distress.

Naturally enough, most plants grow best in groups of their own species, rather than one alone. Roses definitely like their own company. Also, you can prepare the soil for a group more easily than a single one, especially if, like the rose, it needs mycorrhiza fungi among the roots. I have observed that strong vigorous plants enjoy going it alone, while plants that are more delicate, without much vigor, are far better in groups.

This is one point where groups and color coordination combine. It takes little observation to see that a bed of roses set in groups of five of the same color and variety, with an overall regard for an even height, look far better than a bed with all different colors and sizes. For me, it is all about consciously observing what works, what appeals, what excites, what stimulates you, and applying it - rather than what you should do.

Michael J. Roads, author of Conscious Gardening, is an international spiritual teacher based in Queensland, Australia. He presents five-day intensive workshops on The Power of Love. His upcoming Northwest workshop is on July 12-16 in Spokane. Visit www.michaelroads.com.

Organic Sprays for the Garden

It's easy to be green in the garden. Try these simple organic sprays to control pests.

Bug Spray

How do you make effective organic insect spray? Use the insect you want to repel as the basis for the spray.

Catch a teaspoon of the insect that you want to get rid of and liquidize it in a cup of water. Let the bug water stand in the sun for one day, strain it through an old stocking and mix it with one gallon of water. This is now pathogenically potent for the insect that is a pest, and is a powerful repellent on an energetic level. Do not use a mixture of insects. One species only, such as cabbage caterpillar only or aphids only, and use it only for that bug.

Garlic Spray

This is good for small insects and general plant protection.

Use three ounces of garlic bulbs. Chop them up and mix with two teaspoons of liquid paraffin or kerosene. Soak for 48 hours then add one pint of warm water, and a half ounce of good oil-base soap. Store it in a bottle. To use it, strain it and use with approximately 4 cups of water in a sprayer.

Rhubarb Spray

This is a safe and easy spray to use on small insects.

Cut up three pounds of rhubarb leaves and boil them in six pints of water for 30 minutes, then allow to cool. Mix four ounces of soft soap in 4 pints of hot water. When cool, strain and blend the mixture.

Salt Spray

This is a safe, simple control for cabbage white butterfly and other pests.

You need four ounces of salt, two gallons of water and one ounce of soft soap flakes. Mix and use.

Chive Tea Spray

This works well for scab and mildew fungi.

Use dried chives. Do not boil, but instead pour one pint of boiling water over the dried chives and leave them to infuse for one hour. Strain. Dilute one part chive tea spray to two parts water.

- Michael J. Roads