GARDENSSpring

Now more than ever we are seeking homes with gardens that add not just street appeal and value to our houses, but also provide a space to unwind and escape, as Alison Smith discovers.

With a shift towards hybrid and work from home arrangements has come the desire to bring more greenery into our homes. Spending more time indoors meant we’ve jooshed our nests and it’s common knowledge that plants in our work and living spaces create a sense of calm, colour and clean air.

If you are new to indoor plants a good place to start is with a Spathiphyllm or Peace Lily as they are more commonly known. A great air purifier and even as the plant label suggests, simply ‘water when dry’. A bonus hint for beginners with this one is to dump the plant and pot in a bucket of water when the leaves look a little droopy and let the plant do its magic. An hour or so later it will be as good as new - we can attest to this as we have resuscitated these hardy plants in our office many times!

The Zanzibar Gem is also a fave when it comes to low maintenance indoor plants. The catch phrase on these beauties are ‘thrives on neglect’ - now that’s my kind of plant! Perfectly suited to any busy home, and unlike kids or animals they will continue to flourish with nearly no attention.

Simon Van Roy of Manawee Garden Centre agrees saying there has been lots of new people coming into the nursery looking to green their workspace and these are two plants you just can’t go wrong with.

This low maintenance trend is flowing onto our outdoor garden areas. Formal hedges and high maintenance are on the way out. Instead gardeners are embracing the low maintenance and natural shapes of plants. Sweeping soft grasses, native varieties and delicate flowers are being embraced to create an almost wild look.

According to Simon, creating layers with foliage shapes and textures will help achieve this look.

“When refreshing a garden, think about the plants natural growth shape,” he said. “Take your cues from what is already available and look at giving back to nature to ‘rewild’ our backyards.

“This will also create a haven for the insects, bees and birds and allow our backyards to have a more authentic look and feel.”

Even our edible gardens are following this style. Alfresco kitchens are pretty standard and a common occurrence with our coastal lifestyles into our outdoor living spaces. No longer are the herbs and vegetables relegated to the back corner of the garden. Instead many varieties can be grown in pots and vertical gardens in our patio areas.

Think vertical wall planters brimming with fresh herbs right near the BBQ ready to be freshly picked and added to marinades; strawberries, tomatoes and snow peas threaded over a trellis near the kitchen door waiting to be picked for a fresh snack barely even making it to the kitchen. Surround your seating area with lemons and limes for the convenience to add your fresh produce into your zesty spring cocktails.

One trend that is on the rise across all aspects of our lives is sustainability. While many don’t realise the level of plastic used within the garden industry, it’s been something that has been on the minds of Manawee. As one of the largest garden centres on the Coast servicing domestic and commercial operators they see a lot of single use plastics, and when offered the chance to help close the loop, they jumped at the chance. You can now drop off all your PP5 plastic pots and plant labels at Manawee. From here they are collected, chipped and sent back into the loop to be reused as new garden pots.

I’m hoping these gardening influences are here to stay. Finally my style of extreme low-maintenance / survive or die gardening that I’ve been perfecting over the years is finally catching on.

“

Division of labour, the separation of a work process into a number of tasks, with each task performed by a separate person or group of persons. It is most often applied to systems of mass production and is one of the basic organizing principles of the assembly line.” –Encyclopedia Britannica.

One of the fathers of modern economics, Adam Smith, famously illustrated the concept of the Division in his 18th century treatise The Wealth of Nations by outlining the 18 separate processes required to manufacture the humble pin.

He pointed to the potential for manifold productivity increases (number of pins produced per day) by adopting such a system.

It makes perfect sense to us now that assigning tasks based on experience, skill and natural tendencies, at work or in the home, will get the best outcomes.

Prior to the creation of the assembly line what makes perfect sense to us now was obviously not a widespread practice of early civilisation.

Our modern interpretation on this theory is impeccable isn’t it? The best people for the best job producing the best outcomes etc.

As an observer of my own and others’ behaviour however, I see this beautiful theory come unstuck in daily life when human frailties and emotions intervene.

Economic theories often ignore the human dimension and so it is with The Division; it can also produce souldestroying repetition which can undermine creativity and the joy of life.

Have you ever found yourself performing a task, at work or home, and find yourself wondering: “however did I end up here doing this”?

I have felt like Alice in Wonderland several times over the years tumbling down, down a rabbit hole of tasks and choices and ending up in a place which is both unfamiliar and unpleasant.

The performance of tasks and how well we do them, impacts upon our quality of life at all levels – physically, mentally and emotionally, as well as spiritually. Our willingness and ability to perform these tasks also impacts on our selfefficacy which is a key feeder into self-confidence and mental health.

Life sometimes seems to be one endless (production?) line of tasks, a ceaseless birth-to-death manifestation of our natural restlessness as humans.

I am not saying that the experience of performing tasks are always negative. They are of course absolutely required in order to take care of the basics – shelter, food and water – and also for the higher pursuits of self-actualisation - the fun and revelatory stuff.

The Division has offered us much in return for its downsides.

Our civilisation, and all that it offers us here in this lucky country, is founded upon - and functions because of - our unrelenting task identification and completion. It is in our DNA.

Some of the tasks we end up doing are purely accidental in nature; they have been assigned to us by others seemingly randomly; or we somehow seemed to show a propensity for that particular type of task – or perhaps nobody else put their hand up and if we do not do them they won’t get done at all.

I am not talking about delegation as this involves power structures and we have all been on the end of that process where we are told to do something, sometimes against our better judgement.

I am talking about The Divisions that may build up over time between ‘equal’ partners, career or personal.

Some tasks are assigned following discussion and analysis about who is best placed, by experience or time availability, to do a particular job. How grown-up.

Assigning tasks like this is always best, in my opinion. The goal is to play to each person’s strengths and minimise weaknesses (the risk of failure) by spreading the tasks for the best outcome.

My experience is that this happens –every now and then.

More frequent however is the “power of random” where the wrong people end

up doing the wrong jobs. Familiar?

Undertaking tasks which are outside our experience or comfort zone can have poor or even disastrous consequences. Conversely it can be the ‘making’ of you.

This “power of random” is at its most intrusive and destructive when the jobs that no-one wants to do, the ones that are important but will fall between the cracks if left alone, end up being done by someone who is rubbish at them.

Sometime that someone is you. Yes, I know it is hard to believe. It takes a fair level of self-awareness to admit that you are not the best person for the job.

Our old travelling companions Pride, Control and Resentment play a part here.

It seems to me that a Spring Clean of your Divisions of Labour can provide new energy and freshness. Are there tasks which you are performing at work or in the home that you will never be good at, or from which you recoil? Is there someone better suited to do these, or at least have a go? Can you swap tasks?

Some Divisions analytics might help. Write down all your jobs and how well you are doing them, whether you like them and whether they should go elsewhere. Are there jobs being done by others that you would enjoy doing and for which you feel better suited?

Sometimes we end up doing things purely as Labours of Love, because we know they will ease the burden of someone else who we care about.

We may need to grit our teeth and shoulder our way through these jobs as they bring their own, different rewards.

There is a perverse nature where the higher the irksome factor, the greater the satisfaction. This is where we also learn about our capacity for compassion.

Time to look at your task lists with a view to a Divisions Spring Clean.