Spring Clean Ups, Ornamental Horticulture, and The Interval of Care In The Landscape.

There is this divide
Between cleaner, horticulturist, and designer
That always needs to be navigated.


I always say
"The greatest problem we face
Is the word 'Landscaper.'
Fifty years ago, it worked.
It was primarily a construction term.
Then in the 70s and 80s
There was a massive economic shift
To a service economy, and
Transformed "landscaper"
Into a weekly lawn mowing service.


You come to me
To care for your landscape -
"Ornamental horticulture"
Is the field,
The profession -
But you imagine our work
In weekly intervals;
You imagine our work
As if we are
the manicurists and cleaners.


We clean and manicure
As just a part of the work of caring,
But our production isn't organized
Around the interval of lawn mowing.


Our cycles are seasonal
Tied to the snow's thaw
The blooming of spring bulbs
And the dropping of flowers
from the shrubbery.
The soil drys in the summer
And we can work it
Turn it
Build new beds
And set solid foundations.
As the summer nights cool in early August
We can sow turfgrass.
Soon the leaves start to turn
And we transplant,
And as the leaves fall
We clean them up and plant the bulbs for the spring.
We celebrate the holidays
Rest
Design
And begin again as the snow thaws.


But the word landscaper
Has been completely subsumed
By weekly intervals
And I can't for the life of me
Figure out how to communicate that
With Modesty
Without sounding elitist


I'm trying to give consult and care
But there is a line that cuts you every seventh day
And you can't feel it;
But it makes me cry.