by Scott Beuerlein; originally printed in Horticulture, Jan/Feb 2019, Vol. 116 Issue 1. Reprinted with permission

LET’S FACE IT, not all people are equal. Perhaps in the eyes of God. Maybe under the law. But in the court of my opinion, they’re just not. Some are way the hell better than others. And the best ones are gardeners. Not new gardeners, God bless them. I’m talking about the battletested old guard. Gardeners on their second round of knee replacements. Weathered, worn and wizened types.

Alchemy happens to those who’ve gardened a long time. The audacity to continually shuffle bits of nature around in the face of cold, hard Darwinian reality, hoping only to nurture a small piece of ground into verdant beauty—well, that’ll teach a person. It’ll smooth rough edges and knock chips from shoulders. In the words of every authority figure from my youth, it builds character.

Which is apparently what you’ve got left after your ego has been blown up, your confidence shattered, your intellect exceeded, your body exhausted, and yet you persevere. And even succeed a little. Anyone who’s gardened long enough knows what I’m saying. Anyone who’s gardened long enough might call it wisdom.

Being outside with nature is the essential ingredient. Other people nurture. Other people are tested. Nurses, for instance. But I’ve seen enough movies to know there’s something seriously wrong with nurses, and my own experience is they force you to wear hospital gowns and chase you around with needles. Too much time inside a hospital will turn the sweetest pea into Nurse Ratched; whereas time outside with the birds, bees and flowers will turn any old jerk into Mr. Green Jeans. Because all that nature reminds us that life is fleeting and of this moment, and it will be here when we’re not. And it will be beautiful just the same. Subconsciously, we garden to find peace, and with enough time working the soil, peace comes.

Yep, gardeners are the best people. They know what they know, and they know that it isn’t even a fraction of it. And gardeners are okay with that. Among what they know is this: gardening is a relationship with nature. And the strongest partner in any relationship is the one who needs it less. In other words, nature has the upper hand on us. And gardeners have come to be okay with that, too.

So, if you want your kids to be good people, start them gardening and yell at them if they try to quit. That’s my advice. Getting sued? Forget a lawyer. Bring a gardener to court with you. If you’re choosing between two surgeons, choose the one with dirt under his or her nails. And, for God’s sake, let us make it a law that a gardener is assigned to every elected politician. Wouldn’t we all sleep better knowing that a friendly, weathered sage with bits of mulch and stems in their pockets has got a pair of dirty boots on that person’s desk, and is saying, “Not so fast, Whippersnapper.”

Scott Beuerlein is a Horticulturist at the Cincinnati Zoo Botanical Garden.