>He never planned on going to the garden, but the experiences

It's piqued. Otherwise, they're both clumsy sentences.

He had never planned to visit the garden, though others whispered of experience too grand for him to stay away.

>>8750072
Why is the "had" even there?

>>8750000
Yea you're right on that. I also don't see what's clumsy about the sentence

>>8750233
The had adds balance to the sentence.

>>8750233
>I also don't see what's clumsy about the sentence

"Had piqued" makes the reader think of the pluperfect, it takes half a second to realise the "had" and the "piqued" are part of two different clauses. Most people would have to read it twice to catch the meaning.

>>8749957

The second does a better job grounding that infinitive

>He never planned on going to the garden
This works. Keep it. This also balances with the "piqued his interest too much" at the end.

>but the experiences he heard others had
But this sucks.

Why not just K.I.S.S. with this sentence and then expand on "the experiences he heard others had" in a different sentence?

"He never planned on going to the garden, but his interest was piqued too much for him to stay away."

That could work as either a starting or closing sentence of a paragraph about other people's experiences at the garden.

>>8750460
Well the following few sentences do relate to that, so I see your point.