Gardening meets golf.

Today is my birthday. I have spent most of the daylight hours relaxing in the garden doing little other than watering the plants. Earlier in the day a very dear friend dropped off a gift, a book on the best links golf courses in the British Isles. I have spent a good few hours perusing the tome and one particular section struck a chord. You might say it described perfectly how my passion for golf meets my enthusiasm for gardening.

To paraphrase the author, Donald Steel, in links golf you cannot play the shot you want, instead you play the shot you can.

For the non golfing reader, this means that the game of golf, when played on the seaside links courses, presents challenges that courses in other locations infrequently do. They test the golfer's decision making, they test his patience and they thoroughly examine his shot making ability.

The parallel with gardening is found when you recall the old adage, mentioned in this blog more than once before, "the right plant for the right place".

The challenge of gardening will always be, do not to simply plant the plant you want but instead plant the plant you can.

However, as much as I like to think that this is a basic principle which I adhere to, sadly it is not always the case. I still persist in struggling to grow some Japanese blood grass in front of the massed pony tail grasses. I have replaced the plants numerous times and take little comfort in the experience of others who tell me how tricky blood grass can be to grow. Conversely, the ideal plant for my acidic heavy clays would be rhododendrons. But I only like to grow a few, mostly at the front of the house. I always associate the rhododendrons with the mass invasion found in Killarney Ireland (especially noticeable across the lakes form the golf course!)

I am sure we all have the desire to grow selected unsuitable favourites, I suppose the lesson must be do not give in to temptation. But where is the fun in that!

The monochrome terrace has seen good use today