IntroductionA garden can be so much more than a backyard sitting area or a place with plants in the ground. Many of us think of our outdoor spaces in the simplest of terms—such as low-maintenance, native, flower, or veggie gardens—that have been popularized by magazines and makeover shows. But these skip over a garden’s true potential for impacting our lives for the better. In fact, with a little intention our gardens can be shaped into what I think of as real-life wonderlands—that is, places where we can grow our relationship with plants, experience aweinspiring beauty, attune with nature and the seasons, and integrate a sense of abundance that inspires creativity and sharing—all while remembering and choosing the stories we tell about who we are and how we belong.
Simply put, our gardens can be where we find more connected, inspired, and grounded versions of ourselves. In my own backyard, I’m surrounded by plants that show off my favorite colors, scents, and flavors and that connect to my childhood memories and heritage. It’s a backyard created with intention and that makes room for the experiences—both simple and profound—that I want to have in my life. In my garden wonderland I have the opportunity to marvel at a flock of birds on my persimmon tree, feel thrilled by the shifting colors of a rose in bloom, or enjoy the fragrance of angel’s trumpet on a summer evening with friends. I may pass fall-harvested quince over the fence to my neighbor so he can make his favorite membrillo (quince paste) recipe to share with me, or build a fort with my kids using banana leaves, like their father and grandfather used to do in their own rural Jamaican childhoods.
I know from experience in my own garden, and those of my clients, that the relationships we develop with the land and with the plants we grow in our gardens can truly enrich our lives. I believe these bonds and support are things we all can, and have a right to, experience. My intention in this book is to provide guidance and inspiration that invite you to shape your own available outdoor areas into personal garden wonderlands that will nurture and help you grow the world you want to live in for yourself, your loved ones, and your community.
My View of Wonderland I’ve always loved plants and felt connected to the natural landscapes I grew up with in California’s Bay Area. But early on, I didn’t consider a career that would put me in direct contact with plants or the land. Instead, as the daughter of English and Jamaican immigrants who encouraged me to pursue a more traditional profession, I found a compromise by earning an undergraduate degree in environmental justice, then went to law school. Focusing on land use and landscape preservation law, I experienced through my work that how we interact with the land, or don’t, can dramatically impact our sense of self and the way we move through the world. It got me thinking, too, about the places where we have the greatest opportunity to interact with the land—which is often in our own yards. This solidified for me that how we choose to design and live with our gardens matters and was something I could dedicate myself to.
Inspired to explore my relationship with plants and land more deeply, I embarked on a life-changing apprenticeship on an organic farm during a break from work. Learning to grow food was such a profound experience that I felt in my gut it was something I needed to pursue fully. I took a leap of faith, trading my law career in New York City and London for a new way of life that had me covered in soil and surrounded by plants, and I’ve never looked back.
While working at farms and gardens on my ancestral lands of rural England and Jamaica and in my home state of California, I learned that it was possible to grow an astounding amount of food in a home garden–sized space and that creating beauty with plants was deeply impactful to everyone who experienced it. I also discovered that I had instinctual knowledge about how to grow things, as I believe we all do.
Gardens are for All of Us I have since founded Pine House Edible Gardens, a landscape design and build firm based in Oakland, California. After more than fifteen years of garden designing and tending, I’ve learned so much about how to make gardens that truly support our lives—mostly through trial and error and by surrounding myself with people I can learn from. In my work and travels, I’ve seen firsthand the wide-ranging, creative ways people make and connect with their gardens. I’ve learned that achieving a landscape that you can nurture, and that nurtures you in return, is about using plants to support an immersive experience where inspiration, connection, belonging, and new ways of being can unfold.
In this Book I am forever thankful to writer-editor Julie Chai for partnering with me on this book project and helping me to share my vision with you. In the pages ahead, you’ll learn my approach for creating your own garden wonderland, from big-picture concepts to more step-by-step tasks. You’ll also read about a series of gardens created by the amazing Pine House team of landscape designers and architects past and present, especially Holly Kuljian, Lonna Lopez, and Jessica Comerford. Whether a tiny backyard plot or an estate, each project has a different emphasis, reflecting the things that matter most to the homeowners and inviting you to see our design process coming to life. Together, these wonderlands show a broad perspective of how people are finding their connections, and themselves, in their front and backyards and offer views of how gardens can be as meaningful and unique as each of us. You’ll see how life changing these gardens are and how you can achieve this for yourself too.
Leslie
Copyright © 2024 by Leslie Bennett and Julie Chai. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
