--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was a garden, a walled garden…" description: "\"“It was a garden, a walled garden. Overgrown but with beautiful bones visible still. Someone had cared for this garden once. The remains of two paths s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/kate-morton-805_apple-tree_it-was-a-garden-a-walled-garden-overgrow_2892429.png" --- # It was a garden, a walled garden. Overgrown but with… ![“It was a garden, a walled garden. Overgrown but with beautiful bones visible still. Someone had cared for this garden once. The remains of two paths snaked back and forth, intertwined like the lacing on an Irish dancing shoe. Fruit trees had been espaliered around the sides, and wires zigzagged…” quote by Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/kate-morton-805_apple-tree_it-was-a-garden-a-walled-garden-overgrow_2892429.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/kate-morton-805_apple-tree_it-was-a-garden-a-walled-garden-overgrow_2892429.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/kate-morton-805_apple-tree_it-was-a-garden-a-walled-garden-overgrow_2892429.png) > ““It was a garden, a walled garden. Overgrown but with beautiful bones visible still. Someone had cared for this garden once. The remains of two paths snaked back and forth, intertwined like the lacing on an Irish dancing shoe. Fruit trees had been espaliered around the sides, and wires zigzagged from the top of one wall to the top of another. Hungry, wisteria branches had woven themselves around to form a sort of canopy. Against the southern wall, an ancient and knobbled tree was growing. Cassandra went closer. It was the apple tree, she realized, the one whose bough had reached over the wall. She lifted her hand to touch one of the golden fruit. The tree was about sixteen feet high and shaped like the Japanese bonsai plant Nell had given Cassandra for her twelfth birthday.”” [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A once‑cared garden now lies overgrown, yet its hidden beauty and memories persist, symbolizing loss and lingering love. **In simple terms:** An old garden shows beauty despite neglect. Key Takeaway Notice and cherish hidden beauty. Themes memory loss nature beauty heritage Mood melancholic reflective Type descriptive evocative When to use this quote - visiting old homes - exploring abandoned places - reflecting on family history Key Concepts nostalgia resilience symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What forgotten beauty can you rediscover? - How does neglect change meaning? A Different Perspective Nature can’t fully restore what time erodes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers/) [Fruit trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit-trees/) [Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garden/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Pathways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pathways/) [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) [Two paths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-paths/) ## Related quotes > [“Cassandra lifted the apple to her lips. The sunny scent was strong as she bit into it. An apple, from a tree in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/cassandra-lifted-the-apple-to-her-lips-the-sunny-scent-was-strong-as/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“The garden is incredible. It's really overgrown, but underneath the brambles all kinds of plants have survived. There are paths, garden seats, bird feeders."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/the-garden-is-incredible-it-s-really-overgrown-but-underneath-the/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Cassandra continued her obstacle course along the wall, hoping to find a gate or a door, anything permitting entry. The sun was rising in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/cassandra-continued-her-obstacle-course-along-the-wall-hoping-to-find/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“By the time she entered the hidden garden, early light was sifting through the autumn-sparse canopy. Eliza took a deep breath. She'd come to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/by-the-time-she-entered-the-hidden-garden-early-light-was-sifting/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“She sat on the little iron garden seat in the clearing at the top and looked down at the strange garden of her mysterious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/she-sat-on-the-little-iron-garden-seat-in-the-clearing-at-the-top-and/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Beneath the notebook she found the book of fairy tales. The cover was green cardboard, the writing gold: 'Magical Tales for Girls and Boys',…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/beneath-the-notebook-she-found-the-book-of-fairy-tales-the-cover-was/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“What she really felt like doing was reading. Escaping into the Enchanted Wood, up the Faraway Tree, or with the Famous Five into Smuggler's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/what-she-really-felt-like-doing-was-reading-escaping-into-the/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“There was something about the garden that reminded her of Nell's backyard in Brisbane. Not the plants so much as the mood. As long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/there-was-something-about-the-garden-that-reminded-her-of-nell-s/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“A silver hairbrush, old and surely precious, with a little leopard's head for London stamped near the bristles. A white dress, small and pretty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/a-silver-hairbrush-old-and-surely-precious-with-a-little-leopard-s/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“We have a friend, and Anglophile American city-dweller in his eighties, whose main ambition, now, is to hear a cuckoo call, for he never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/we-have-a-friend-and-anglophile-american-city-dweller-in-his-eighties/) [Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/) > [“Before the war an apple tree had stood behind the church. It was an apple tree that ate its own apples.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/before-the-war-an-apple-tree-had-stood-behind-the-church-it-was-an/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“We are people-trees. Our roots are hidden in Earth .The branches spread out on Heavens. The fruits are our energy. Two different energies: The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katerina-kostaki/we-are-people-trees-our-roots-are-hidden-in-earth-the-branches-spread/) [Katerina Kostaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katerina-kostaki/) > [Fame is but a fruit tree- so very unsound. It can never flourish 'till its stock is in the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-drake/fame-is-but-a-fruit-tree-so-very-unsound-it-can-never-flourish-till/) [Nick Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-drake/) > [The stars are golden fruit upon a tree all out of reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-stars-are-golden-fruit-upon-a-tree-all-out-of-reach/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Wisdom is the best fruit on the tree of intelligence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/wisdom-is-the-best-fruit-on-the-tree-of-intelligence/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) ## More by Kate Morton > [“Laurel wondered whether perhaps a person reached an age when so much was kept from them, so many details of life discussed and decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/laurel-wondered-whether-perhaps-a-person-reached-an-age-when-so-much/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“It hardly needs to be said: sooner or later secrets have a way of making themselves known.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-hardly-needs-to-be-said-sooner-or-later-secrets-have-a-way-of/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Give someone more time and they'll appear to have done more with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/give-someone-more-time-and-they-ll-appear-to-have-done-more-with-it/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“It suddenly seemed to Laurel that all the absences in her own life, every loss and sadness, every nightmare in the dark, every unexplained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-suddenly-seemed-to-laurel-that-all-the-absences-in-her-own-life/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Rejection is a cancer, Edie. It eats away at a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/rejection-is-a-cancer-edie-it-eats-away-at-a-person/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“home is a magnet that lures back even its most abstracted children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/home-is-a-magnet-that-lures-back-even-its-most-abstracted-children/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“tiempo tiene su peculiar manera de moldear a la gente de forma que ellos mismos ya no se reconocen,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/tiempo-tiene-su-peculiar-manera-de-moldear-a-la-gente-de-forma-que/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“I want to know how it feels to be altered by life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/i-want-to-know-how-it-feels-to-be-altered-by-life/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“She'd opened the front cover and fallen inside the wonderful, frightening, magical illustrations. She'd wondered what it must feel like to escape the rigid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/she-d-opened-the-front-cover-and-fallen-inside-the-wonderful/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [It's special, grandparents and grandchldren. So much simpler. Is it always so, I wonder? I think perhaps it is. While one's child takes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-s-special-grandparents-and-grandchldren-so-much-simpler-is-it/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“... and I thought -not for the first time- what a true and simple pleasure it was, to be inside and sated when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/and-i-thought-not-for-the-first-time-what-a-true-and-simple-pleasure/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Nell was like a witch. Her long silvery hair rolled into a bun on the back of her head, the narrow wooden house on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/nell-was-like-a-witch-her-long-silvery-hair-rolled-into-a-bun-on-the/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Thinking of nothing. Trying to think of nothing. Thinking of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/thinking-of-nothing-trying-to-think-of-nothing-thinking-of-everything/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [There's a market for mysteries for adults. That feeling of opening a book and delving inside and not coming out until you've closed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/there-s-a-market-for-mysteries-for-adults-that-feeling-of-opening-a/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“I don’t have many friends, not the living, breathing sort at any rate. And I don’t mean that in a sad and lonely way;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/i-don-t-have-many-friends-not-the-living-breathing-sort-at-any-rate/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) [Explore all 334 Kate Morton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) ## More Apple-tree quotes > [“Cassandra continued her obstacle course along the wall, hoping to find a gate or a door, anything permitting entry. The sun was rising in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/cassandra-continued-her-obstacle-course-along-the-wall-hoping-to-find/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Cassandra lifted the apple to her lips. The sunny scent was strong as she bit into it. An apple, from a tree in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/cassandra-lifted-the-apple-to-her-lips-the-sunny-scent-was-strong-as/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“By the time she entered the hidden garden, early light was sifting through the autumn-sparse canopy. Eliza took a deep breath. She'd come to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/by-the-time-she-entered-the-hidden-garden-early-light-was-sifting/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“We have a friend, and Anglophile American city-dweller in his eighties, whose main ambition, now, is to hear a cuckoo call, for he never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/we-have-a-friend-and-anglophile-american-city-dweller-in-his-eighties/) [Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/) > [“Before the war an apple tree had stood behind the church. It was an apple tree that ate its own apples.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/before-the-war-an-apple-tree-had-stood-behind-the-church-it-was-an/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“The garden is incredible. It's really overgrown, but underneath the brambles all kinds of plants have survived. There are paths, garden seats, bird feeders."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/the-garden-is-incredible-it-s-really-overgrown-but-underneath-the/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“We are people-trees. Our roots are hidden in Earth .The branches spread out on Heavens. The fruits are our energy. Two different energies: The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katerina-kostaki/we-are-people-trees-our-roots-are-hidden-in-earth-the-branches-spread/) [Katerina Kostaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katerina-kostaki/) Browse all 8 Apple-tree quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was a garden, a walled garden. Overgrown but with beautiful bones visible still. Someone had cared for this garden once. The remains of two paths snaked back and forth, intertwined like the lacing on an Irish dancing shoe. Fruit trees had been espaliered around the sides, and wires zigzagged from the top of one wall to the top of another. Hungry, wisteria branches had woven themselves around to form a sort of canopy. Against the southern wall, an ancient and knobbled tree was growing. Cassandra went closer. It was the apple tree, she realized, the one whose bough had reached over the wall. She lifted her hand to touch one of the golden fruit. 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