Fairy story

N Romney, (February 26) calls the Bible a harmful collection of fairy stories. But archaeologists and historians have long proven true its historical accounts of people, places and events.

As for violence, abuse, corrupt powerful men, careful examination reveals the Bible records this but teaches the opposite – to love others – and Bible-believing Christians around the world are doing exactly that.

Also she tries to deceive the reader (to prove evolution is true) by using the well-known bait and switch method: the word evolution has many definitions, often used in the vernacular to describe small changes over time, from the development of automobiles to zippers.

N Romney would have known that MQuinney’s letter referred to evolution in a different way: of hydrogen taking millions of years to turn into humans, particles into people, frogs into princes, molecules into mankind, stardust into stenographers. This latter definition is obviously a fairy story, as life can only come from life, but is still being taught as fact in our schools.

Parents should complain to principals.

As for ‘‘the few remaining religious zealots’’ - argumentum ad hominem; appalling. rather glance in the bathroom mirror, than seek my reflection in a garden full of sun-struck, chlorophyll-crazed vegetation.

If I’m honest though, it’s not just the dirt and the hard work of gardening that really deters me, it’s the everlastingness of it.

Gardening is the outdoor equivalent of housework, a Sisyphean task that never stays done.

I don’t like doing it inside – no sooner is the carpet vacuumed than the dog sheds another snowdrift of fur – so why would I like doing it outside?

The answer of course, is the aesthetic and sensual pleasure of gardens, and what Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx calls the ‘‘complex of aesthetic and plastic intentions’’ that is implicit in the art and craft of gardening.

I may not have the right temperament to be a gardener myself, but that’s not to say I am immune to the appeal of the vegetable kingdom.

In fact, I get enormous pleasure from gardening that’s done by others.

In my neighbourhood alone, the most humble of private gardens has something delectable to offer up to the non-gardening, dogwalking, urban rambler like me: lavender, roses, daisies, hydrangeas, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, clambering vines, willowy native grasses. If you are lucky, a feijoa, apple, lemon, grapefruit, avocado or peach tree might drop its fruit at your very feet.

Edible and fruiting plants are not restricted to private gardens.

Last week I was amazed to find tomato and pumpkin plants flourishing near the skating rink at Tahunanui.

Thanks to Nelmac, which takes care of landscaping and maintenance for Nelson City Council, you can find and harvest (with the city’s blessing) apples, lemons, avocado, walnuts, olives live on. For me, the appearance of their tightly furled buds are a welcome sign that winter is almost at an end.

In summer, for a few short weeks, the mundanity of Weka St is utterly transformed when the agapanthus and Jacaranda trees on the median strip all burst simultaneously into bloom.

The magic lasts even when the flowers fall, carpeting the street in mauve blossom. A

Agapanthus are abloom in Wakapuaka Cemetery at about the same time, and at certain times of the year, lilies and daffodils also pop up in casual disarray amongst the headstones.

Gardening is a transformative art in which the passage of time is a vital component.

Over the last few years, gardening has created a whole new landscape behind Miyazu Garden. What used to be a scruffy no-man’s land, prone to bogginess in the winter, has been sculpted into a series of pleasing grassy slopes, and planted with trees which, in time, will offer shade and refuge.

The old Tui railway station has been resited with its back to the sea, and the railway line for the vintage trains which chug in and out of Founders Park, has been rerouted through this transformed landscape.

Shrubs, flax and grasses which were planted years ago beside the shared-pathway nearby, are now mature enough to provide quiet shelter for cyclists and walkers from the cars and trucks speeding past on State Highway 6.

And so, dear green-thumbed ones, whether you are professional or amateur, paid or unpaid and whether you garden in the private or public sphere, please accept the gratitude of this non-gardener for the love and know-how you bring to your art, and your labour which lends beauty, style, fragrance and fruit to the urban landscape. Read more at www.greyurbanist.com