The City of Gardens

The beautiful is as useful as the useful, perhaps more so. --Victor Hugo

Tonight I met a woman who just moved to Denver from Pakistan. She said the city of Lahore, Pakistan is known as the city of gardens. Even though the citizens are not materially wealthy, every patch of ground has a flower growing from it.

City plantings are not only beautiful but useful. The plants keep the soil on the ground instead of blowing through the air or sliding down a hill during a rainstorm. Trees help keep us cool. Certain plants even improve the soil; the legume family, for instance (sweet peas, beans, locust trees, etc.) adds nitrogen to the soil. Densely spaced plants help keep out weeds—there’s nowhere for the weeds to grow. But my favorite thing about public plantings is that they give a lift to the spirit.