Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Three Things Necessary

“To the Establishment of a proper and pretty Garden, three things are wanted, that is: Ability, Will and Science. The Ability: that is, whoever wants to build a Garden, should have enough Fortune and Wealth to cultivate and decorate and maintain it without his own Detriment. Will: that he should have a liking for it, should not get bored of it, should be prompt and ready in all time to all kind of its Cultivation; because if he acts reluctantly and compelled, his Garden will be soon occupied by Dan Desert, Nat Nettle, Ben Bur and Will Weed. The Science is necessary so that the Gardener and his Administrator would know what at which time must be done in the Garden. Because the Intelligence and Science is just as important to the arrangement of a garden as to the remey of the Human Body, as it is clearly proven by Xenophon, saying that the Master, the Gardener and the Physician have one and the same office: to complete everything in due time…”
(János Lippay: Posoni kert (A Garden in Pozsony/Bratislava), 1664-67)

The Ability will not be wanting, it seems, as we have submitted a successful application to the local government so that we could contribute with our little work to their efforts of caring the green spaces of the district. (I will soon write in detail about the application we have won.) We also have as much Science as required to this Work, and where it is wanting, we will make it up from the on- and offline literature; what is more, we are not ashamed to ask for advice either. Our weak point is the Will, that is, a more even distribution of the works, because we are still very few, and the most difficult task is to meet the requirement of completing everything in due time besides our own jobs. We do need interested and collaborative companions.

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