Yesterday I spent a long time tidying up the garden with my cousin. Many things were observed:

  1. Plants struggle amongst them to get sunlight. The struggle doesn't work on a human timeframe, it takes decades. Human reason must decide the outcome.

  2. The garden is full of mosquitos. It's often impossible to be outside. I will try different things according to my budget (starting from buying citronella bushes).

  3. Nature has it's way of gardening. An abandoned garden is beautiful in itself, but not very comfortable for humans. If you state your needs to the garden it will yield to you. With a small amount of work you can bring beauty to it.

  4. I believe bushes with thorns are useful as a natural barrier, but they have no place in a backyard garden. It will be a lot of work taking down that huge bouganville.

  5. A palm tree is what got Goethe going on his metamorphosis of plants. I understood: a proto-leaf emerges from the very center which pushes the maturing leaves outside. The leaf stumps end up forming the trunk. The building unit is a leaf.

I must procure Goethe's Metamorphosis of Plants.