Three years ago, I bought two dwarf apple trees for an espalier in my brand-new-to-me garden. Several hours of hard labour and bent post stakes caused by hardpan clay convinced me it wasn’t going to happen.

I let the apples trees grow along the imaginary espalier line for a year without giving them much thought. That summer, I got a sweet sheltie cross dog, who took great delight romping around the garden. He also acquired a taste for apples…apple wood, not apple fruit. I lost one of my apple trees. My dream for fresh apples and espaliers seemed to be evaporating.

When I re-designed my garden, I placed the surviving Empire apple tree near the compost, away from the path of my boisterous dog. And it took off. Instead of a horizontal cordon espalier, I had a small tree. In its third year of growth, my dog, husband and I enjoyed the first fruit from the tree. Delicious.

And how does this relate to my life….? Well a couple of years ago I wrote the Condo Gardening column for the Toronto Star. With changes in editors and change in the editorial direction of the Home section, I was dropped as a columnist.

I wondered if my dream of being a garden writer had evaporated. I dusted myself off, and took the skills I had gained from writing the column for 3 years and built my own gardening website. A couple of weeks ago, Google approved my website for Ad placements. And the journey continues.

Just like apple trees, I did get what I wanted. It took time, effort and being open to new ways of thinking and doing. The apple tree and my career isn’t how I first envisioned they would be, but they are both delightful. Nature provides.