The owners of a piece of land cannot guarantee that wildlife will find another home. We have too many wild spaces, so it is up to us all to ensure that our properties are managed in a way that promotes biodiversity. This is the message Mary Reynolds, a gardener, landscape designer, and activist, shared with me this week. She founded. We Are the ARK ( Acts restorative Kindness).
Mary encourages us to be gardeners and guardians of the natural and magical world. Mary believes that allowing land to become its true nature is a way to reconnect with our true natures. Mary is the author “HTMO_ The Garden Awakening” and “HTMO_ We Are the Ark: Returning Our Gardens to their True Nature with Acts Of Restorative Kindness “. She’s also the subject of the 2016 movie, “Dare to Be Wild,” which tells her story of how she rose from an outsider to win a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Mary was born in the southeast part of Ireland. She says that her family had a lot of children, as it is customary for Irish families. She was the youngest child of six. Her parents were farmers and also worked full-time. Because her parents were so busy, so she could have a lot of unsupervised time. She recalls that she had “complete freedom” because no one knew where she was. She claims that this is what led her to connect with nature, rather than people.
Mary says that one of her most memorable experiences was when she was 6 years old, and she walked up the hill to the top. Because she smells the hawthorn flowers, she knows that it took place in May. The gap was the same one her father used to drive through with his tractor. But when she turned around the gap had closed behind them. She was trapped by the shrubs and plants, which made it impossible to escape.
She recalls being scared and confused. She walks around the field trying to find her way out. “I was crying, and nobody could listen to me because nobody was around,” she said. And then I was distracted by the sun and the butterflies, and I sat down on the meadow, spaced out, which is how I spent the majority of my life.
Although she couldn’t see anyone, she felt like she was being watched. She realized it was the plants that were watching her.
She says, “I realized that these plants had personalities and spirits, and in the same way humans are sentient and individual.” “And they were all looking to my attention, which is what stuck with me because no one ever took notice of me.”
One day, she heard a neighbor calling across the field. The gap suddenly closed in on her and she walked out of the field. She kept the news to herself for years, until her father told her about it.
It was locally known as a fairy-tale field.
Mary says, “Those magic places existed a lot throughout Ireland, but as wildness vanishes, magic also vanishes.” “So, we’ve lost much of that magic here.”
Mary’s childhood experience as a child shaped her life and set the stage for her future. This path led to her greatness, including being the youngest woman to win a gold medal at London’s 2002 Chelsea Flower Show.
Finding Her Way
Mary dropped out of college quickly, but her parents encouraged Mary to return the following year. She didn’t know what her dream job was. “I pictured this boy studying landscape design and I thought, “I’ll do that.” She agrees. “It wasn’t like my calling was great, but I did a degree as a landscape designer, and I started my own business right away.”
Because she is a talented designer, it was easy to find work. She says she did not “bully” her clients. She says, “I don’t insist on what I believe should be done.” “Every time I would return to a client, they’d have viewed a different television show the night before, which would have changed their mind. It was driving me insane.”
Mary dreamt a message in a dream: Gardens are not true reflections of nature.
She heard that message, and she began a journey to change how we interact with the planet.
She says, “I tried to get clients to do gardens that are wild, but nobody would allow me to.” “So I thought, “Well, how am I going to do this?”
She had never heard of the Chelsea Flower Show so she called the organizers to request an application form. A man at the show told her that she seemed young and naive, and that it was futile to send her a form.
She laughs and says, “I don’t believe you said that to me.”
Mary persevered and called back to get through to a secretary, who agreed to fax the application form. Mary designed her garden and completed the application form within a short time frame. She also included forged sponsorship documents from Beirut, Lebanon.
This design was simple and based on an idea she had previously used to create a television program. Before she sent her design drawings, she had collected wild mint and dried it in the oven. Then, she rolled it into the drawings.
She explains that mint has an intent of its own and is meant to dispel negative connotations.
Although her design was accepted, she faced another problem. She couldn’t raise the funds for the Royal Horticultural Society without realizing she had no sponsor. She managed to pull it off.
