Some views seem timeless.

Some views not so.

For someone like me who was always a bit of transient wanderer, now I find its coming up to 22 years living in our little village perched on a tiny hill. Definitely no views here like that one from the top of The Niesen sat at the edge of The Alps. But the view isn’t too bad.

During those 22 years, one fellow villager let nature take control of his garden. Over the years his house became increasingly lost in a sea of wild chaos. Some called it overgrown, most called it wonderful. To me it was like a magical corner from a chapter in The Secret Garden. A place that made me smile.

Time moves inevitably on.

Now my friend has left his Secret Garden for the last time and his house needs to be sold by his family. It’s having a selling makeover and sadly this week chainsaws got to work. For the first time in years, the old farmhouse can be seen from the road, I had forgotten it was white with blue wooden window frames. Sadly, Man has all too quickly reclaimed the garden, the natural chaos is trimmed back. It’s neat, it’s tidy. It’s now very sellable. But to me it’s now has lost its magic.

50 thoughts on “Time moves on”

  1. it’s a tough call for people to let nature take it’s curse around their homes when society says not to..good on him.I also understand though that sellers sometimes have to “manicure” things to make them more tasteful to most buyers. Sucks but its the way of the world:(

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  6. I know exactly what you mean! I prefer the chaos… there’s an old deserted farmhouse down the private back lane from us where we live in Ireland. (Leads to a cul de sac of fields, so few know about it or are allowed there anyway). It has an overgrown walled garden which we call “the secret garden.” The farmer who owns the property lives a distance from here and doesn’t mind us going into the “secret garden.” I haven’t ventured up the stairs of the old house in years though… as they look ready to collapse. If someone bought the property… I’d feel like you, the mystery had gone…

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  7. Pingback: Being Presentable – Aspirational Adventures

  8. Hi Gary, that last line in your post inspired me to write a blog post sort of connected to it but following a theme I’ve been writing on for a while, about how we try to make ourselves “sellable” to the rest of the world. Just that phrase about “lost its magic” set me off. Thought you’d like to see what you inspired 🙂 https://aspirationaladventure.com/2024/07/18/true-freedom/

    Thank you again for a lovely post. I do enjoy reading them

    Diane

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      1. Times change. My grandfather grew roses on his front garden, but when he died, his widow’s son tore them all out. I never went back to the house after that.

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  11. There is something charming about nature claiming the man made spaces. Hopefully the new family moving in will bring a new chapter of magic to the Secret Garden. 🙏

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  12. Ah yes, I know what you mean. I too like Nature to reclaim. Your scenery is very nice. Beats the hell out of living in suburbia and it will certainly do until you are able to return to the Alps.

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  14. My first house was a rowhouse with a front yard measuring about 11’x15′. I ripped out the grass, amended the soil and planted flowers. The second year, the flowers grew with abandon. When I got back from a week’s vacation in July (and the garden was abundantly lush, to my eyes) my neighbor told me people had been stopping to look at my garden. “I told them,” she said, “that it was a good idea that got away from her.” I still chuckle at our different perspectives.

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  15. Actually, I love some natural chaos to a certain degree! In my garden there is a part that finally becomes overcroweded with the flowers I want it to have… but also weeds that hide successfully beneath. That is the chaos I don’t like…

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  16. Yes, time moves on. I can’t believe we’ve lived in this little farming town for over ten years; I’ve never lived this long in a single place. It’s all my kids know. Someday Bo and I hope to move into a little wilderness where, as you say, Man’s not tried to trim back and tailor Nature. Let it be its own beautiful, wild self. xxxxxx

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  17. I’m sorry it’s lost the magic. Is it that you like to see things growing wild, or was it the self expression and individually that made it special? It’s likely also losing a neighbor and seeing his finger prints all too quickly erased that doesn’t help matters.

    I’m definitely not a wild gardener. However, I’ve always loved houses that have flowers climbing their walls and trellis’. I do like romantic English gardens full of life. There was that one year that I let the weeds grows wild….. 🤔

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