To everyone their own Eden. People who carve their home into a wildwood will feel like pioneers. Those who begin from scratch on a naked lot will, when they have brought their own trees there and reared them to a design, feel like creative artists. Each specimen will be theirs by choice, not chance, and they may feel freer than the wildwood folks to alter their composition as it develops: to erase mistakes and improve improvisations. All its parts will be beholden to the owners for their presence, not vice versa. From the very start the owners will have full control of, and responsibility for, all their trees' well-being. Awareness of this last may weigh on new owners' consciences, like the future of their children, but in the end a pardonable pride will make up for growing pains. Curiously, more people have qualms about raising trees than worry about reproducing and rearing their own kind. They seem to think that luck has a lot to do with trees, or that you need a green thumb to ensure tree health and beauty. In comparison with children, trees are far more amenable, and hardy. Firmness of hand and purpose, and a cheerful patience, are all that you really need if you observe from the outset the basic needs of tree life, which are three: moisture, nourishment, and air space. |
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