The noisy garden

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About a year ago I went to go have lunch with a friend in Scottsdale, and since I got there way too early, and it was a beautiful day, I walked around some of the most architecturally-beautiful condos that I have ever seen. They're on Scottsdale Road a few blocks north of Camelback, if you want to go see for yourself.

They are really quite amazing, especially if you're interested in gardens. I'd seen photos of the building, and gone past it several times, but this time I wanted to see it up close, so I walked around.

My first impression was positive, to see all of the beautiful plants, and then I was overwhelmed by the noise. Hopefully I visited on a rare day, as the roar of machinery cutting and blowing was tremendous. I got to wondering how the people who lived there could stand the noise? Then I realized that most of the people who lived there never actually used the outdoor spaces, they just admired the landscaping from their windows. But I like going outside, and sitting in a garden. And to me, it shouldn't be like being out on the tarmac of an airport.

It's funny, but plants aren't something that we normally associate with noise. But certain plants, especially those that grow fast, require a lot of maintenance, and usually a lot of noise. I'm talking about neatly trimmed hedges, mown and edged grass, that sort of thing.

If you have a noisy garden, you may want to reconsider what you've planted there. At the very least you should not have grass that requires a machine to fire up (usually early on a Sunday morning) to cut and trim. And if you have the type of hedges that look ratty if they aren't constantly trimmed (again, usually early on a Sunday morning), you may want to consider those that grow in a more natural way, and look good that way.

No, I don't own a lawn mower, or an edger, or a hedge trimmer. But a lot of people do, because they have noisy gardens.

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