Why Does The Garden Grow? Comical poem 581 by Angela Lansbury

 Tell us, why does the garden grow

I though I knew, but now I know

To make sure the retired don't shirk

Give us, retired, gardeners work

Some turn to crochet, knitting, beads

While others race to pull out weeks

We keenly watch for cuttings, seeds

Give sweet pea plants the drink each needs

Although we're told all bad things pass

We stick up signs, Keep off the grass

We build wind chimes to make kids laugh

Then sternly warn, stay on the path

When winter's gone, or summer's through

Find new essential things to do

Like cleaning moss from plants and stairs

And do repairs to musical chairs

A fallen fence, a crumbling wall

Busy God cannot do it all

He sends the rain but then will moan

'Just do the rest, folks - on your own!'

We check if posted vines survive

And if not thrive, just stay alive

To tell the truth, I don't tell lies

Most plants I see are a surprise

And though our old apple tree's rotten

We find forget-me-nots forgotten

See treats for eyes, my soul, your nose

Wild, keenly climbing, short-lived rose.

Grasshopper on orange rose, Hatch End, London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

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Please share links to your favourite poems in the posts on my blogs.

Hatch End Hill View. Comic poem 145 by Angela Lansbury.

Come to visit cleaned Hillview Road

And view our small, cute, quaint abode

Hillview, not new, hides in Hatch End

We hide old family and new friends

Our road leads to a bustling school

At busy times observe road rules

We ban bad parking

And dog poo and barking

In long, hot summers, roses bloom

Garages turn into sun rooms

Daily mail crowds through each letter box

Our night patrol is a bushy-tailed fox

Neighbours stroll past with silent dogs

Back garden pools breed fish and frogs

Squirrels dig, hide acorns they love

Proud magpies upstage owls, pigeons, doves

The strangest thing you'll every see

Mugs or poems (hang) on a/Philip's poem tree

In leaves above, green parakeets

Squawk, preen and paint my favourite streets

Fine fir trees frame distant hill view

Fill photos' foregrounds - we miss you.

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Happy and Harrowing Harrow, Pinning Down Pinner, Ending with Hatch End. Comic poem 140.

I'm an author and live in Hillview Road 10 a

It's clean and green, I've a small abode 9 a

Tall trees lean, and arch, drop cones on the ground 10 b

Firs, flowers, bushes, busts, birds abound 10 b

Hidden away, back gardens, sure to please 10a

Hide gnarled apple, old pear, giant oak trees 10a

We grow six types of grapes, hoping for wine 10b

We might fill one bottle in ten year's time 10b

We've tame cats and dogs, a wild bush-tailed fox 10a

And an old-fashioned, domed, red letter post box 10a

Stooped friendly neighbours and neighbourhood watch  10b

Loud burglar alarms, high gates and strong locks 10b

I'll start my story with tales of Harrow 10a

Streets cobbled, then bricked, wind steep and narrow 10a

Historic and romantic after dark 10b

Drive up and find it's hard to double park  10b

Hillview Road once viewed Harrow on the hill 10 a

Now skyscrapers - please don't bear them ill will  10a

Neighbours in Harrow are nice as an ice 10b

Kids survived Covid-19, rats, head lice 10b

Pinner has Heath Robinson's museum 10a

His cartoons raise laughs, each time you see 'em 10a

Nelson's daughter sleeps in a nearby grave 10b

Near Tudor pubs whose names campaigners save10b

Walk up Pinner High street, historic, steep 10a (6a 4a)

Eat in Tudor pubs, drive round a few bends 10b

Along Uxbridge Road, flowers planted by friends 10b

And you'll reach Heaven, our litter-freed Hatch End 10b

Eat Chinese, or Jewish style served by Greeks 10a

Indian, Italian, dine out for weeks  10a

Twenty restaurants - when you've done with 'em 10b

At Grimsdyke hear Gilbert and Sullivan 10b

Mrs Beeton was our most famous cook 10a

She wrote a still-in-print cookery book 10a

A World War Two bomb blew her house away 10b

But a plaque clung on the wall yesterday 10b

We've twisted old trees, red clay soil, brown mud 10a 

High street photos show cars towed from a flood 10a

We've charity shops, collection boxes

Garden fences which don't block the foxes

My name's author Angela Lansbury 10a

I hope you'll recall this verse penned by me 10a

And dear Philip, who seems ordinary 10 b

Until he hangs poems on his front tree. 10b

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10 is the number of syllables. a and b are the rhymes

Written on Friday 20th May 2022 by Angela Lansbury at the request of Philip Barnet who has hung poems on the tree in Hillview Road, Hatch End, Pinner, Middlesex, England, UK, by the pavement (Americans say sidewalk) to entertain passers-by.

Why Is Hatch End So Famous?

Flooding in Hatch End. Photo from C J.