The first human habitation ever mentioned in the Bible is not a palace or a hut but a garden. So when we tend our gardens are we expressing a longing for a lost home?
Certainly for Edwin Tecson, survivor of follicular lymphoma, and his wife Arlene, the immaculate gardens around his home in Better Living, Parañaque, are as much a part of his home as his living room. Arriving early for our interview, I walked up to this man, standing bareheaded in the sun, trimming the topiary bushes in his pocket garden in front of the house, dressed only in an old T shirt and shorts. I thought, “This is either the gardener or Edwin.” “Ako si Edwin,” he says sheepishly and apologizes for his look.
Gardening as therapy
Gardening has become therapy. Cancer fears ebb away when cancer survivors literally get their hands dirty in the vegetable patch. One blogger posted this comment in a cancer survivor’s blog: “I had bone cancer as a preteen. I’ve now just recently passed the 23rd anniversary of my diagnosis (and all is well!). My garden is still the most important element of keeping myself sane and happy.” Another blogger wrote: “My garden has been an important part of my life ever since my cancer diagnosis, and most mornings I spend an hour or so puttering in the garden, coffee cup in hand, often still in my robe.”
The healing effect of gardens has become enough of a health boon to warrant considerable investment for the UP-PGH Cancer Institute, where Dr. Cecilia Ladines-Llave, chairwoman, has set up a healing garden with plants cadged from friends and volunteers. In an interview she gave to the Philippine Star, Dr. Llave said: “Our idea was to create an environment that is as peaceful‚ hopeful‚ and comfortable as possible. Sometimes the most soothing medication is the sound of flowing water and the smell of plants as one takes a stroll in a garden.”
Starting your own garden
So can city folk—whose idea of a jungle is the concrete one—plant gardens? Sure. Lito Catangue, a real gardener for the N.T. Samson Gardens in Antipolo, debunks the old Pinoy myth that a gardener has to have “malamig na kamay.” He suggests starting with cheap and easy-to-grow plants like santan, bougainvillea, and a creeping grass with yellow flowers popularly known among gardeners as “peanuts.” “Magtanim ka lang ng lima [niyan] sa isang metro,” he says. These happily sturdy plants can be planted as cuttings, will flourish any time of the year, and need only the basic twice-daily waterings. For vegetables, Lito recommends mustasa, eggplants, sili and ampalaya. For hanging plants he recommends the Celia. The plants at N.T. Samson are fertilized twice a week.
Despite the four-figure price tag of some plants, Edwin assures that they need not cost the earth. “Hindi kailangan mayaman, buy only what you can afford.”
A private garden also yields the pesticide-free, organically grown produce that many cancer patients favor. Edwin’s guava meriendas are freshly plucked from his orchard every day
Basic gardening tips
Starting a garden is not difficult. But as in any undertaking, a few considerations have to be made. First, plan the location of your garden; second, prepare the soil for your garden; third, plant your seeds or starter plants; fourth, care for your vegetable plants; fifth, enjoy.
Planning garden location. Whether it’s a flower garden or a vegetable garden that you’re planning to have, it’s location, location, location. Most plants (vegetables, especially) need five to six hours a day of full sunlight, so locate your garden where it will receive lots of that golden light. If you don’t have enough planting ground on your real estate, no problem. Your garden can be in containers! Again, place them in the light.
Preparing your soil. Soil preparation is very important. Vegetables need a lot of nutrients to flourish--the better you prepare the soil the greener your greens will become. So turn the soil well, then enrich it with compost or other organic matter.
Planting your veggies and ornamentals. If you’re planting your plants in traditional rows (as in a vegetable garden), just sprinkle seeds along each row, later covering the seeds with a thin layer of soil. If you’re using starter seedlings, poke first a hole in the soil before putting the plant down in the hole. Then lightly pack the soil around the seedling stem.
Caring for your plants. Water your plants every day. Do this when the sun’s not too hot though, preferably in the early morning and in the late afternoon. Remember also to weed regularly. Keep off the grass, in other words.