Much of modern life takes place in conditions of toxic noise-overload. According to the Noise Awareness organization, noise over 70 to 80 decibels causes gradual hearing damage, while at 120 decibels it causes immediate damage. The organization lists the dB level of various garden implements here. Power-saws and drills create 100–110 dB, chain-saws 120-25, leaf-blowers 110, snow-blowers 105, and power lawnmowers 65-95. Rustling leaves, by contrast, are 10 dB. Part of the problem with gardening machinery is that it masks the sounds we enjoy: breezes in treetops, chirps of birds, insect buzz, the gurgle of our water feature. The other problem is that loud noise causes stress, sleep disturbance, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular problems, as itemized here.
The word “noise” is related to the Latin-derived “nausea” (from “nauta” – sailor), which originally meant the sickness felt on a stormy sea. How does noise cause sickness? Sound waves enter the ear canal and travel to tiny bones in the middle ear where minute hair-like cells convert the vibrations to electrical signals, which are sent along neurons to the brain. Strong sound waves damage this apparatus, causing deafness and disturbance of balance. “You could hear the grass growing” goes a popular idiom. We’ll never have hearing good enough for that, but in many contemporary suburban gardens we can barely hear the birds singing. Gardeners can mitigate the problem however. We can choose to go low-tech, creating an oasis of peace in a cacophonous world.
Gardeners have so many jobs to do—create beauty, grow food, expand green space and wildlife habitat—and now we have yet another job: make quiet zones in a noisy world, places where we might even remember the sound of rustling of leaves. We might aspire, like poet W. B. Yeats when he arose to go to Innisfree, to “… a bee-loud glade … and I shall have some peace there … and evenings full of linnets’ wings.”.
In city (and countryside) gardens we could lay down our mechanized tools and pick up humble hoes and spades. John Steinbeck too wrote about that: “there is nothing pleasanter than spading when the ground is soft and damp … and you go for hours without thinking of anything.” There’s something about writers and gardens. Jenny Uglow in her Little History of English Gardening (Chatto & Windus, 2017) mentions the popularity of writing huts in eighteenth century private gardens for authors such as Alexander Pope. Pope wouldn’t have got much writing done had someone started up a leaf-blower next door.
In the small suburban garden you can get a healthy workout with a push mower, which was adapted in 1831 from the cloth shearing machines used in textile factories, a great labour-saving advance on the scythe. Hedging is another great silencer of course; we know that good hedges make good neighbors. They are a gift to the neighbor next door who wants to hear not only birdsong, but the very mist rolling in over the hills.
We tend to emphasize the visual and scented aspects of gardens but they are also soundscape. Maybe, in a world getting too loud, some gardeners can learn the error of their noise and strive to hear the mist.
Well put. At one point, a few years ago, I decided it might be nice to listen to music while I gardened in my in-town 1/3rd acre plot. Toward this end, I began collecting CD’s. I even made plans to play one loud classical CD (sort of a fight song) when my neighbors’ dogs came out and barked madly at my dogs through the fence. But, here’s the thing, no CD could ever sound as lovely as the birds singing, the bees buzzing, or the church bells ringing in the background. I always seem to want to hear nature more than my own music so it’s not happened yet.
Wonderful article, I can so relate. I live near an elementary school and when I garden I can hear the children playing. I really missed this during the COVID lock-down.
Our neighborhood is relatively quiet except for Wednesday when landscape maintenance crews come through so they fill the green waste tubs for Thursday pick up.
We also live several blocks from an elementary school and, pre-covid could hear the playground chatter and evening/weekend baseball and soccer crowds.
I also remember one Sunday morning, I was sitting in my backyard drinking coffee and reading the local newspaper. The sound of Mariachi music was quietly floating on the air.
Sparrows twittering as they stopped in the yard for dust baths and drinks from my small fountain. The neighbor kids playing basketball down the street. Almost heaven.
Sometimes a garden project does call for powered tools and now is the time for battery-operated implements. I have a hedge trimmer, tiller, weed whacker, and chain saw, all operated by the same rechargeable battery. I’ll never go back to noisy, high-maintenance, polluting gas-powered tools. One of these days I hope to see a good battery-powered garden tractor.
Yes, electric sounds the best compromise for times when a spade’s just not enough. In her History of British Gardening J. Uglow mentions that on 18th C. estates “hundreds of labourers were needed to plant . . (&) hordes of weeding women & scores of labourers to pick fruit & scythe the grassy walks …” Who has that today?!?
I first saw my current house in the middle of winter, during a snowfall, which is why I had no idea how much road noise there actually was from the nearby highway; the snow muffled it, and also there was less traffic than usual because of the weather. The inspection was also done on a snowy day, so I didn’t experience the actual noise level until the actual closing took place five months later. Kind of too late then, lol.
One location I would never want, would be within earshot of a school or playground. I had to endure 10 years of living next door to a family with noisy kids and a barking dog. In the summer it was nonstop shrieking from their inground pool combined with almost nonstop thumping from the basketball hoop next to their driveway. Then as the kids got older it was a window-vibrating bass from the stereo from 3 pm until almost midnight. So, at the risk of sounding like a Grumpy Old Person (which I guess I am!), “kid noise” is something I can definitely do without in my garden.
Instead of insisting that gardeners down tools, couldn’t the tools be made quieter? Quieter, more energy-efficient movers, trimmers and weed whackers would improve everyone’s gardening experience, and the soundscape generally.
Here, a local tree trimming company switched from gas-powered chainsaws to battery-powered Sawzalls. Tremendous improvement–much less noisy. Their huge truck-pulled diesel chipper/shredder unfortunately was the same: deafening.
My allotment borders a busy road out of our village. During lockdown it was so peaceful working there with no traffic noise that I try to pick quieter times now. Working now at dusk reminds me that the birds are starting to think it’s spring (as do snowdrops and hellebores edging their way up). And while we are on senses, can I just celebrate my super scented sarcocca and daphnes?!
I, too, live down the street from an elementary school, and I’ve always loved the sounds from the playground. About equal distance from me in the opposite direction is a high school football stadium. In the fall, our evenings are filled with the sounds of the loudspeaker calling the games. No, not just Friday nights, but Tuesdays though Fridays. I’ve usually enjoyed that sound, but there was one year that for some reason they turned the sound up so loud, we couldn’t hear our tv in our house.
The only noise (and I love the lesson on the origin of the word – thank you!) that really bothers me when I’m outside trying to garden and enjoy the birdsong and water sounds, is the neighbors’ music. For some reason, my neighbors, and there’s more than one of them, think the whole neighborhood wants to hear their music. I’ve even asked them, politely, to turn it down, and they’ve actually asked me, “why?” Isn’t it obvious? *Sigh*
I frequently wish I lived way out in the boondocks where the only sounds I hear are the sounds of nature. But then, I’d miss the playground sounds!
Your garden is beautiful. It’s the way I try to get mine to look and just never quite achieve.
Bravo! I just hate leaf blowers, especially when used to move a little grass around from the sidewalk or street. Whatever happened to brooms?
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I also try to garden for sound. One of the best noises, especially when all else is barren, is the sound of the wind soughing through the tall grasses. Because of this, I will always have tall grasses for my listening pleasure
I would like to recommend a tool sets I bought last year. The tools came in a cute package, and I love the belt that comes with it. The tools are well built with a good feel of quality. This is not one of those cheap gardening tools you find at a dollar store. The handles are well made with good rubber ergonomic grips.
The green gloves has plastic finger tips on one hand. I have used this before in the past and loved it, so I was glad that this set included one of these gloves. The plastic finger types are only on the right glove. They are useful for poking holes in the soil. I use it to plant seeds directly in the field.
The bag is well made with elastic side pockets. Previously, I use to carry all my garden tools in a metal bucket. This bag was a nice addition and allows me to compartmentalize everything easily with lots of extra room. I am glad I got it. Just brought my gardening game one level higher.
The spray bottle holds 750ml. The plant wire and 10 plant tags are pretty standard but area nice addition to the set. It has everything a new gardener would need to get started. That said, the tools included are not cheap entry level tools, but high quality ones.
Here is the video showing how the tools work: https://bit.ly/3Iaicll