I’ve been thinking about what makes slow so valuable, and I think it’s because it leaves time for the interactive processes of learning and of building relationships. For example, I recently commissioned a design for my garden. Probably not a very ‘slow’ thing to do, but as someone who’s tended to give my gardens the wildflower meadow treatment, I felt I needed help! The design is great and gives me a real vision of what the garden could be like. But what I haven’t done is hire anyone to implement the design. Physical changes definitely need the slow treatment. So I make small changes, one at a time. Each new change alters my experience of the garden, and this experience contributes to my understanding of the design and to my process of building a relationship with the garden. The space is evolving into something that will have been co-created by me, by the designer, and by the garden itself. It is like the difference between viewing a photograph of an unknown family and the experience of nurturing and being nurtured within your own family.

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