Grape Trellis Based on John 15:2

NOTE: An update to this article from August 31, 2013 may be found at John 15:2 - Pruning Produced Better Grapes.


Today we finished the construction of a grape trellis in the Gethsemane Prayer Garden. Using John 15:2 as a basis, the two trellis structures are intended to illustrate the power of pruning. The trellis on the right will be pruned each January or February, while the one on the left will not. It is our expectation that the one on the right will "bear more fruit."

The verses in John 15 symbolically compare the grape vine with our abiding presence with the Lord and the commandment to love one another. Jesus begins by describing Himself and His relationship to His Father:

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser." (John 15:1 NKJV)

Then He includes those who abide with Him:

"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." (John 15:2 NKJV)

When the pruning is performed in mid-winter, the grapes have already been harvested but the new growth has not yet started. As a gardener, I can easily understand these two types of pruning. If a branch has not produced fruit, get rid of that branch because it will be less productive and may not bear any fruit at all. For the branch that has produced, excess branches are cleanly removed so that more energy will be directed to new flowers – when insects fertilize those flowers, they become more and potentially larger grapes.

Our hope with this dual trellis system is to see the abrupt difference between the two types of treatment. We should see more fruit on the first, and we should see more leaves on the second. The branches on the first should be more organized because they have been instructed (via the pruners) how to grow; the branches on the second should be much more wild in appearance.

Many interpretations have been put forth regarding what John 15:2 means. When Jesus stated, "I am the vine; you are the branches" (John 15:5 NKJV), I believe he was stating that each plant represents a Jesus/person combination. The plant near the right post is one person that abides in Christ, and the plant near the left post represents a second person in Christ. The branches on each plant get pruned based on the fruit that they do or do not produce.

The timing of the pruning also seems pertinent to understanding John 15:2; it is after the growing season has ended but not at the end of the plant's life. Springtime will soon arrive and the hope is that it will produce more fruit next year. Each person in Christ goes through seasons; the Father removes from each plant that which is unproductive, and He cleans those other branches in preparation for the next season:

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me." (John 15:4 NKJV)

Note the similarity of John 15:2b with John 15:5b for there is synergy between them:

"He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5b NKJV)

For example, in Joshua 7, the leader Joshua was pruned at Ai when his forces lost the battle – he lost prestige with his people. Rather than run or be discouraged, Joshua chose to abide – he fell on his face and sought the Lord. After Achan was exposed, Joshua became more fruitful in the next chapters because he was pruned and he abided.

Gardeners also have the responsibility of promoting the plant's health throughout the year. We will train the plants so that their branches remain attached to the trellis system. If a branch is too wild, it will be cut off and discarded:

"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15:6 NKJV)

The Jesus/person plant is not discarded, only that portion that is not bearing fruit. Just as dross is removed from silver or gold, the branch is put through the refiner's fire.

The grape's branches are secured to the vine by arms that are called cordons. In this way, the green growth abides to the vine and allows it to bear much fruit:

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples." (John 15:7,8 NKJV)

The grape vine analogy concludes with the command for those who abide in Christ to love one another:

"You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another." (John 15:16,17 NKJV)

This answers the question, "Based on these verses, what is the fruit?" It is love. The fruit is not good things that we do as some suggest – concentrating on performing good works can be done without any evidence of love. And the fruit is not the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) as others suggest, although love is an aspect of each of those nine fruits.

Rather, I suggest that those things that we do (good works) are intended to exhibit love. The text says the fruit should remain – the groceries that were left for the needy person will be consumed, but the love that went with the groceries should remain. The pruning removes those things that may inhibit a better revelation of love, and the abiding promotes the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22) to help us manifest love.

Installing a Large Wooden Cross

Yesterday we placed a large wooden cross in the Gethsemane Prayer Garden! In all for 2012, we developed four additional areas this year. The addition of the cross is certainly the most significant.

We started in the spring by clearing a major thicket of buckthorns, wild grapes, and other plant debris. Most of the plant material was dragged to the far edge of Faith Chapel's 79-acre property, and some was buried under 40 yards of sand. We planted that with cosmos seeds which sporadically bloomed for four months during the hot and dry summer.

This fall, we developed a sitting area for a group of three or four, a planting of concord grape vines based on John 15:1-11, and yesterday placed an eleven foot wooden cross in a third area.

While I am the developer and caretaker of this prayer garden, I could not do it without the help and encouragement of others. In addition to my wife that added her prayers and applause, yesterday there were four of us that placed the cross in the hole.

Jim Boyd is a tremendously skilled operator of backhoes; he knew just how to pick up that cross which which weighs 300 pounds and get it in the hole. Earlier in the day, he carefully picked up a 400-500 pound rock using straps hung from the bucket. Praise God for the skill that He placed in Jim.

Sam Lupo was the man behind the construction of the cross. Taking two pieces of 6"x6" pressure treated wood, he meticulously cut out, chiseled and sanded the 15' piece and the 6.5' cross-arm. He then glued the two boards with Gorilla glue, bolted and counter-sunk two bolts that hold the boards in place, and then applied epoxy to the bolt ends. Finally he used a draw knife to take the sharp edges off the wood, giving it a more "rugged cross" look.

Bill Hastings is the exuberant worker. Highly skilled in many areas of construction, Bill energetically placed a 12"x4' Sonotube casing into the 50" hole that I had dug and surrounded it with runner crush stone. After the cross was inserted into the Sonotube, Bill mixed four 80-pound bags of Quikrete concrete mix, placed it next to the wooden post, and then capped it off at ground level with a little pitch which will drain water away from the wood.

We used a Sonotube form rather than just pouring concrete in the hole to help reduce the possibility of frost heaving. The hole had a very irregular shape due to the many limestone rocks that are so prevalent on our church property. Although the hole is well below the frost line, our concern was that the frozen water would create an uplift in our clay soil if we just used concrete. Maybe that is over design, but we felt that it was better than a tilted cross.

Our Lord gets all the glory for how well this worked out.

It is our hope and prayer that many will come to the cross during more pleasant weather, to receive whatever touch the Holy Spirit sends. Remember, Jesus Christ is the lover of your soul.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

Enjoying Gaura

After a very hot and dry summer, the Gethsemane Prayer Garden has recovered beautifully. The Russian sage are still in blossom, the roses are abounding, there are patches of pink showy primrose which normally bloom in June, the white cone flowers and the even some of the daisies are peaking out their heads, there is a large patch of Japanese anenome in full bloom, and these are adjacent to abundant clusters of yellow coreopsis. There are brilliant red burning bushes next to the church and the ones in the garden have started to turn. And then there are the chrysanthemum, false ageratum and Autumn Joy sedum.

The most stunning of today's flowers are the gaura. Also known as 'Wand Flower', the gaura can be either white or various tones of pink. Close inspection of each gaura flower reveals four petals with a beard-like cluster of stamen and pistil. The flower heads sit on top of a long stalk that sways in the breeze. When one flower dies, the stalk produces another flower just above it in a seemingly endless pattern of beauty upon beauty. True love never dies.

As you first go in the garden, you will see a large patch of the white gaura, and these are the tallest. Elsewhere in the garden there is a mix of the white ones with a soft pink that somehow reminds me of striped candy canes. At the entrance to the garden are two plants, each 30" tall and equally wide. These two enticing gaura, shown above, are a deeper tone of pink.

In our area of Central New York (zone 4), some people have confessed that they have not been successful with gaura. They suggest that it is originally from Texas and may not be well suited for our environment. I think there are two keys to our success: the ones that survive are planted on a slope whereas the ones we have lost were planted on flat ground; and the ones that survive are either grown in sand or had sand mixed into our heavy clay soil. They seem to tolerate some amount of late afternoon shade but really prefer full sun.

If this autumn is like other fall seasons, the gaura should remain in blossom into November sometime. Please pay us a visit and bring your camera. Yes, it is a garden devoted to prayer, but sometimes we see things through the lens of a camera that encourages to dig deeper into that conversation with the Lord.

Many blessings,
Tom

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.
Tom Clarke, Caretaker of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden

Why the Redbud is My Favorite Tree

The outstanding redbuds have opened! Like everything else in Central New York, these trees are three or possibly four weeks ahead of schedule! The deliciously aromatic lilacs are already starting to open and the fullness of the crab trees are just beginning their vibrant display of multi-colored pinks. The delightful dogwoods are just emerging, some deep purple magnolias are in full blossom, and the soft fragrance of the apple blossoms is in the air. This spring is early and this spring is suddenly gorgeous! Love is in the air.

Give me but one tree, shrub or flower that I would especially want in a newly planted garden, it would be a redbud. I don't know why it is called "red" bud for the blossoms are hardly red at all. But then again, would you call it "purplebud" or "pinkbud"? What is that color anyhow?

The crab trees can be stunning, but all of them have leaves that compete with their flowers. Cherries, pears, hawthorn, and linden trees can arrest us with their beauty, but all have that same competing leaf problem. Forsythia open with very little leaf showing, but please pardon my bias, they're yellow. Only the dogwood and the redbud in this portion of the world are created by God's design to be lovely and leafless for the first week or two. And of the few dogwoods that we have because of our winter extremes, most are white and not pink.

While the redbud is by far my favorite tree, transplanting them is not high on my list. I learned my lesson many years ago when a nurseryman offered me two free redbuds if I wanted to dig them. I cut my landscaping teeth on them! Back in the years when I thought I knew how to play tennis, I talked my regular tennis opponent into tackling them: one for his house and one for mine. It took us five hours to dig those tangled roots out of the rich nursery loam! About four hours into the effort, the nurseryman wandered over, "How you boys doing?" I don't know how he asked that with a straight face.

My advice on planting redbuds? Buy potted plants from a reputable nursery and then select a location with plenty of space so that you will never be tempted to move them again.

In the photo above from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden, you can possibly detect a small shrub with white flowers to the right of the redbud. These are fragrant viburnums and we have three planted three. On a day with a gentle westerly breeze, the most sweet-smelling aroma fills the parking lot of our church, beckoning everyone to come visit. If you are tempted to plant a redbud, I highly recommend this combination.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

Daffodils Bow Down on Palm Sunday

In Upstate New York as well as large sections of the eastern United States, we are having an exceptionally warm spring that has started much earlier than most years. For those of us that enjoy being outdoors, it has been a most welcome change from what we normally experience.

The daffodils, flowers that express their early springtime joy, first opened about four weeks earlier than normal during a week when the temperatures reached into the mid-eighties! But a week later, on March 28th, we had a killing freeze that brought morning low temperatures around 20 or 21 degrees. Daffodils can easily handle a frost, but a heavy freeze made the plants weak. In particular, the stalks on many flowers bent leaving the brilliant yellow flower heads touching or nearly touching the ground.

Palm Sunday was just four days later on April 1, and the daffodils looked no different that day than they did on the day of the freeze. The yellow flowers just drooped from their normal perky self.

Look again at the photograph above. Palm Sunday is the day that we remember Jesus making his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The people lined the streets, placed palms and even their cloaks on the road as the donkey passed by carrying the Christ that was soon to be crucified. They cried out, "Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna to the son of David!"

I love this image of the daffodils, reverent of the Messiah coming into Jerusalem with their flower heads on their face, giving the highest respect for Jesus Christ who would soon bring salvation for the sinner.

Some see the daffodils in an unfortunate position, broken as if they had lost their joy and their hope. I see reverence in this most appropriate position, in awe and respect of our Jesus Messiah.

Happy Resurrection Day in the life we have today and the hope for tomorrow. He's alive!
Tom

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

Transplanting Advice for an Unusually Warm Spring

Yes, this is phenomenal weather that we have been having. As a gardener, I can see that this season is about three or possibly four weeks ahead of schedule. The daffodils, which traditionally open around April 15th, are likely to begin opening next week. Some are already open in protected areas and on the southern sides of buildings; most will open next week as the temperatures sore into the 80's for an extended period of time.

With spring that far ahead, this means that the clean-up work in gardens should happen very quickly. Otherwise, the flowers will be opening with the fall/winter debris still all around and over them. It is much easier and much prettier to have all that debris removed before the flowers come bursting forth.

The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote, "There is a time for everything … a time to plant, and a time to uproot … a time to love, and a time to hate." It is important to know what time we are in.

I have never known a spring where I would consider transplanting so early. As with any garden that has some years behind it, the Gethsemane Prayer Garden has some plants that need to be relocated. Their size, once just perfect for their location, have outgrown themselves and need to be moved. This is what landscapers do and we should not be afraid to do so! That digging and replanting process can, and really should, begin in March or early April this year, as opposed to the traditional April / May time frame that we normally allow for plants.

None of us know what type of spring we will have. Last year's spring started early, although not as early as this. We had such an extended warm spring that by the end of May, I was no longer transplanting anything. If it hadn't been moved by then, it would have to be done at another time. There is certainly the possibility that this spring will be the same way or even more so.

I find that when the soil is moist, as it is right now, I can dig the spade around all sides of the perennial or shrub, pop it out of the hole to place it in the wheelbarrow, and then place it into a similarly sized hole that is hopefully a better location. I bring the hose over to water it at the bottom of the roots (not surface watering as many people do), tamp it in with my feet, and I never have to water it again.

With trees, it is basically the same process but, depending upon the size, often requires more digging to get a good shaped but easily managed ball. Of the thousands of plants that I have moved this way, I have never lost one.

I don't attempt this process when the soil starts to dry up. Other years I stop digging around June 8th or 15th, depending. This year, if the warm patterns continue, it might say May 1st. But then it could turn very cold or have consistent rain which would keep the soil temperatures down. (In the fall, there also is a several week window where this process can be performed, but I find it harder to catch because roots should be reasonably established before the cold weather sets in).

For me, I have procrastinated on doing my taxes, as I do many years, to work on them in the third and fourth weeks of March. I regret that this year – it looks to be a very busy spring bouncing between taxes, outdoor work, and my various writing activities.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.