藝廊的老闆想在入口的庭園裡種一棵大樹，希望是四季常綠，使庭園在樹葉凋零的冬季裡，仍能有點生氣，著我跟庭園師討論。庭園師聽罷卻連連皺眉搖頭，其中一個原因是大樹不適宜移植，樹大樹齡自然長，年長的都容易水肚不服，突然來到新環境，枯萎的機會比小樹高。另外，更重要的原因是，要找一顆在外形上與現有庭園合襯的實不輕易。若是小樹，種下以後跟庭園的所有植物受著同樣的風吹雨打，享受同樣的日照，飲著同樣的朝露，很快便會融入在庭園現有的植物裡。
雖說是「造園」，但庭園其實是養出來的。得花時間，祈望原本來自四面八方的植物們能熟習彼此，依隨著庭園的環境，長成最自在的模樣。樹下陰涼處會長青苔，陽光照耀處青草茂盛，我們掌控不了自然，自然會以最合適的方式，回應我們為其預備的。
好幾棵楓樹初來時看來病懨懨的，葉片未紅已灰白掉下來，最近天氣回暖，枝頭又長出嫰芽來了。連那些來時只見枝椏的矮樹，早幾天也開出了翠綠的花卉來，在風裡擺啊擺的像一串串風鈴。春去秋來，樹木漸長，數年後，小樹會變得粗壯，長成只在這庭園裡才會長成的模樣，到時我們會發現，沒有任何樹，比它更適合這裡。
The gallery owner wanted to have a big tree planted at the entrance of the garden. He was looking for an evergreen species, so that the garden could continue to look lively even when most of the plants wither during wintertime. Upon his request, I reached out to our gardener, who apparently frowned at the idea. One of the reasons was that big trees are not suitable for transplanting, as they get less and less adaptive to new sites along with aging. When compared to the younger trees, the bigger trees are more likely to die after transplanting. A more important reason was the challenge in finding a big tree that can be in harmony with the existing composition. If that is just a small tree, it can have chance to endure the same climate condition with the rest of the plants in the garden as it grows. Together, they will grow under the same amount of sunshine and get hydrated by the same morning dew. Sooner or later, it can be fully assimilated as part of the garden.
Gardens are grown instead of made. One has to be patient hoping every single plant of different origins can soon adapt to both the new environment and the existence of other plants, and thence begin to flourish naturally in the garden. Mosses will grow under the shade of the trees, the lawn will thrive under abundant sunshine. Nature is beyond human control, but it will respond to the environment we created in its own way.
Many of the maple trees looked frail already when arriving at the garden; some of the foliage has turned pale gray and fell before autumn came. But as soon as the weather got warmer again recently, the branches began to bud again. Even the barren shrubs are expecting some lively flowers, which look like wind chimes when the wind blows. The plants grow as time goes by. The young trees will mature into strong big trees, which has then become an inseparable part of the garden. By then we will fully agree this is absolutely the best tree for this particular garden.
