When I define listening to the garden it is not only hearing sounds , the sole responsibility of the auditory branch of the eighth cranial nerve ; it is sensing with all the seven senses that we are blessed with. This is the sort of listening that is much broader than hearing alone and tells us that we can be successful if we can combine these dimensions of our mind.
There is little in the book to satisfy the gardener who requires a menu of useful information. I don't consider myself an expert in gardening. There are plenty of professionals in horticulture whose knowledge and love of the subject is available. They could be Master Gardeners. They could be hired hands. Amazon listed 18,400 gardening titles available the day I looked so there is no shortage of expert instruction in gardening. There is probably no shortage referring to looking at the garden, but they didn't list any others that advocate listening to the garden that I could determine.
One may legitimately ask " How can the garden help me grow ?" There could be much that will satisfy those who require understanding of a sort that fulfills Aristotle's observation. " Nature does nothing in vain. " I suppose that he could be inferring that our growth under Nature's tutelage will not be in vain. In the garden we live with inhabitants that are rooted, some who scamper, and some who flutter. If we care we have to figure out what they need. Since we are one with them all, we know they need what we need.
If you think all this is a touch of madness you can read on to the 18,400 titles to show Mother Nature that you, not her, are the boss. To listen, however, one needs all seven senses. I reveal the seven senses in the book if read carefully, to gain the hidden dimensions.
When Sir Thomas Browne, graduated from Medicine at Leiden in 1654, he wrote, " thus there are two books from which I collect my divinity : besides that written one of God, another of of His servant Nature, that universal and public manuscript that lies expansed unto the eyes of all. Those that never saw him in the One have discovered him in the Other ." I just hope no one believes me that it is madness.