A Change of Light. Or Light Touch?
There's a magic in the light in November and Joe Swift is making the most of it, and he wants to share it with absolutely everyone.
‘The light, the light!’ Cathy and I occasionally shout to each other from different rooms in the house. It’s become shorthand for ‘look out the window, something magical is happening and it’s a reason we moved to the country and bought this house as the light is always changing here and sometimes there’s nowhere better in the world’… If it’s me saying it, it also means… ‘aren’t I clever for taking out those overgrown hedges and letting light filter through to the woodland and oh wow, just look at those grasses lighting up like a torch, that’s why I put them there, Cath, this is all incredible and no one lives forever so grab these moments and… is that a rainbow? Just LOOK OUT THE WINDOW, or come on let’s go outside and pootle round the garden as the LIGHT HERE IS AMAZING!’
And breathe…
Gardeners understand aspect and how the light and shadows move across the garden both daily and seasonally, so they can plant to best effect. When the sun does shine is out of our control, but harnessing it when it does isn’t. I put plants of certain heights and textures in spots I know will be, say, backlit by the low winter sun. I’ll plant a tree where the dappled shadow cast from certain angles can be as impactful as the structure of the tree itself. I’m not a lawn freak but after mowing, the crisp edge between my mown paths and the longer wilder areas looks satisfyingly sharp and defined, yet after a few days the grass gets a little shaggier, so the enchanting and ever-changing composition softens.
Of course, light isn’t only about full sun and the shadows it casts. There are unlimited iterations – more than words can capture – but here are a few: filtered, dappled, bright, soft, flat, monochromatic, golden, silver, misted, glimmering, pearly, sparkling, as well as morning light, twilight and moonlight. Then there are the clouds above and those crepuscular rays, spirituality-inducing ‘God’s rays’ that radiate down through the clouds. I’m not a religious man, but I can understand why many would think they are a sign of a greater being sitting up there, sprinkling the earth with magic dust.
