One of the most common mistakes I see in new landscapes is plantings that are too close together. Although full, green and instantly gratifying, an overcrowded bed leaves little room for future growth. The result: competing plant material that never reaches its full potential. Plants eventually grow on top of one another, and some species falter while others survive.

Allowing room for future growth is important in plants – and people – alike. With a little space, life can continually take shape.

We live in a world of instant gratification. Faster, faster – everything must be faster. I was at Sonic the other day with my son, Landon, and I noticed that half the stalls have now been modified for mobile pick-up orders. “As if fast food, especially Sonic, isn’t fast enough,” I remarked.

It’s as if we don’t experience the experience anymore. At the rate we’re going, we may as well take a chili cheese coney, fries and soda and have it blended into a shake. Why waste time chewing when we could just slurp our food? At least that would speed things up even more, so we could rush home and plant a few azaleas a couple of inches apart.

Life has become so immediate and conditional. The thought process seems to be: if I have this now, or know that right away, then satisfaction is sure to follow.

Growth takes root in our decisions, but our minds become overcrowded. We leave little room for thought, and our choices become shaped through haste.

For example, I often hear Landon’s soccer coach speaking commands to his players from the sideline during their games. One phrase in particular that he often uses is, “Find your shape!” It’s a simple yet vital request. In their case, he is referring to their formation. If they become hurried, the team’s posture changes, the game plan falters, and failure can follow.

It’s important to have a shape. Just like plants in a flower bed or soccer players on a field, symmetry and space make room for success. As players in the game of life, we spread our roots and anticipate growth, but to our own detriment, we often feel rushed to make decisions and treat time as expendable.

Our oldest son, Colton, is graduating college this year. The most common question he receives lately is, “What are you going to be when you finish school?” I hate that question. Just once I’d like to hear him say, “I’m gonna be me.”

That particular line of questioning seems to imply urgency through expectation. The very words suggest that you’re nothing if you don’t immediately declare that you’re something.

Don’t get me wrong – I think it’s important for people, especially young adults, to find what they want to do with their lives. I often say, “You better pick what you want, or life will pick it for you.” But lately, I’ve grown tired of that notion. After all, what do I know?
A host of life-changing opportunities have picked me at times when I least expected it.

It shouldn’t matter if you lose your way and life picks a path for you. Consider yourself lucky and grow wherever it takes you.
Sometimes when you lose, you win. And more often than not, we are just one hasty decision away from a life never lived.

Think of it like this: If you didn’t know your age, how old would you be? Would you be in a hurry to meet life’s standards of age appropriation? Or would you simply grow with the flow in the absence of time?

A defining characteristic of overcrowded flower beds is that one species always outgrows the next. This is not because one plant is better than the other. It’s because they’re in a hurry. The plants can sense the overcrowded conditions and become ravenous in competing for life. Like us, even nature can be selfish when confronted with limited space and time.

So what is your shape? Frankly, mine is round from time to time, but when I stick to my diet it trends toward an oval.
But seriously: What formation do you take to allow room for future growth?

If I could give some humble advice in regard to growth, space, shape and time, it would come from a recent conversation with my son, Landon. He said, “I try to become unburdened by the fear of failing through setting multiple goals that can help me grow. It’s okay if you don’t succeed; just realign yourself and take your time.”

I love to visit landscapes that I’ve designed many years after their installation. The plants have grown so healthily, and the beds have found their shape. It’s living proof that when we slow down and create a little space, nature finds no need to hurry – and everything finds its shape.

Clay Bowen is a Columbus native who cooked professionally as a chef in fine dining for 12 years and appeared on the third season of Top Chef. He is also a licensed landscape horticulturist. Email him at [email protected].

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