Jenny Uglow

How Gardens Quietly Nurture the People Who Tend Them

At the same time, Uglow’s words suggest that gardens teach interdependence rather than mastery. No garden exists through human effort alone: earthworms aerate soil, pollinators carry life between blossoms, rain interrupts our plans, and sunlight remains beyond command. In recognizing this web, the gardener is gently moved from self-importance toward participation. This insight has deep literary and philosophical roots. Voltaire’s Candide (1759) ends with the famous injunction to “cultivate our garden,” not simply as a private hobby but as a disciplined engagement with the world. Yet Uglow extends that wisdom further, reminding us that in cultivation we ourselves are cultivated. [...]