Flowers can help us celebrate happy occasions in our lives at their finest. Plants give us hope and inspiration to face life's challenges in difficult times, and Healing Gardens are designed to provide just that. Before we get into the parts of the Healing Garden, let's explain what a healing garden is and why some gardens are referred to as ‘healing gardens’ when they all appear to be appealing and useful to humans.
Before we get into the parts of the Healing Garden, let's explain what a healing garden is and why some gardens are referred to as ‘healing gardens’ when they all appear to be appealing and useful to humans.
Healing gardens are green spaces in hospitals and other healthcare facilities that are expressly designed to improve patient outcomes. Patients, family, and staff benefit from these gardens because they provide a safe haven and promote healing. Gardening can help to heal in any context, but gardens are especially effective since humans are hard-wired to find nature absorbing and comforting.
According to Clare Cooper Marcus and Marni Barnes, two experts in this subject, healing occurs because the gardens promote:
Healing gardens differ from therapeutic landscapes, which is another concept used in the healthcare field. Therapeutic gardens or landscapes are created to satisfy the special needs of a sick group. They frequently and purposefully engage that specific population. Healing gardens, on the other hand, tend to favor a more passive approach and are intended to serve a wide range of people with varying needs.
Consider your garden as a place to unwind in the fresh air. This video offers precise advice on how to make your garden healthier. Healing gardens have been around for a long time, dating back to Japanese Zen gardens and monastery cloister gardens.
Consider constructing a healing garden for a family member recovering from a major disease such as cancer or stroke, or for a veteran in your home. According to studies, connecting with nature causes favorable changes in the body, such as lower blood pressure, decreased heart rate, reduced stress, and improved mood. The majority of us are stressed in our daily lives; we could all benefit from our own healing gardens, which would bring nature's wonderful impacts on our physical and mental health. Here are some tips and ideas for creating a home health garden.
Healing gardens are divided into two categories: restorative and enabling. In a restorative garden, you can get advantages just by walking or sitting, whereas in an enabling garden, you can get therapeutic results by actively gardening. Make a list of the three most essential health concerns you or your family have to assist you in determining which type to build. For instance, it can be for:
To fulfill these objectives, you will need to plant a restorative garden to help with stress relief and an enabling garden to give fresh vegetables. Raised beds would make gardening easier for you as you get older. Your garden should cater to specific healing needs while also taking into account the visitor's or gardener's restrictions. It must, of course, be visually appealing. It's possible to prioritize design aspects once you've agreed on your primary objectives.
Begin with the hardscape; consider the garden as an extension of your home. Include walkways and patios that your planting beds will encircle to integrate the spaces in your backyard or side gardens. If you need to accommodate wheelchairs, make sure your routes are broad enough to allow them—a minimum of five feet is recommended. The surface of the path must be sturdy and smooth. Consider erecting privacy barriers and constructing shade shelters. Driftwood and huge stones can be used as natural elements. Using stepping stones will force you to slow down.
Water, sound, and lighting should all be included.
Relaxation is evoked by a water feature. It doesn't have to be anything fancy; a simple rock bubbler would suffice. Consider a pond or waterfall if you have more area. The sound of running water encourages meditation. Perhaps a wind chime could be hung at the entrance to your garden as a veil through which you enter your healing zone. Additional wooden chimes hung throughout the garden magnify their calming tones. If you visit your sanctuary in the evening, utilize LED lighting to bring out the best in your plants. Put a string of lights in a tree. Beautiful shadows are created by strategically positioned lights, which bring attention to the colors and textures in your landscape.
Make a habitat to attract wildlife to the garden's therapeutic energies. Birdhouses, birdfeeders, birdbaths, and plants that provide nectar and food will attract butterflies, birds, and insects. Nectar-filled favorites include Joe-Pye weed, purple coneflowers, and brilliantly colored asters. A bed of Jacob Cline bee balm will attract hummingbirds.
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Include areas to sit and take in the natural splendor. Simple benches or lightweight seats that may be moved to more convenient locations would suffice. Alternatively, relax in a nice chair, hammock, or glider. Make your seating space even more comfortable by making it into a quiet refuge with sheer curtains or greenery. An outdoor carpet can help define the space while also providing comfort. Include a blanket box or an outdoor bookshelf. Light a few candles or lanterns in your environment in the evening.
A place for meditation and introspection should be included in your healing garden. A sculpture, a unique plant, fascinating rocks, or a water fountain are all good focal points. Be mindful that brightly colored objects or other non-natural garden art materials can detract from your garden's healing properties.
After you've completed the hardscaping, it's time to select plants. Find out what plant hardiness zone your location is in and cultivate plants that are appropriate for that zone to reduce care. Plants with comparable requirements should be grouped together. Another low-maintenance tip is to use fewer varieties of each and more of each. This has the added benefit of bringing people together
Remember to grow what you like when choosing plants for your therapeutic garden. Annuals such as zinnias, petunias, sunflowers, or cosmos are good choices if vibrant colors energize you. Color elevates one's mood and elicits happy feelings. While de-stressing, use peaceful blues and greens, joyful pinks and stimulating reds when recovering from depression, and purple should be abundant in your healing garden.
I try to include plants that have had an impact on me since I was a child. Because I have a strong sense of smell, I plant rosemary, lavender, and chocolate mint. Their soothing scents transport me to my grandmother's garden and cooking. If your healing garden is for someone with Alzheimer's, choosing plants that evoke happy memories from the past, such as old-fashioned hollyhocks or lilacs, is very beneficial.
Tea-making plants look great in a healing garden. Grow catnip, chamomile, and lemon balm and infuse them.
For the therapeutic garden, I also enjoy decorative grasses. They move in the breeze, drawing attention to a gentle breeze that could otherwise be overlooked. Plants that are prickly or toxic should be avoided. To avoid using pesticides, always choose insect- and disease-resistant types. It takes time to create a healing garden, just as it does to heal and recover from an illness. Enjoy the voyage, because "Nature is another term for wellness," as Thoreau put it.
Humans, regardless of age or culture, find nature to be therapeutic. Researchers Marcus and Barnes discovered that when people are worried, more than two-thirds of them chose to retreat to a natural setting. In another study, 95% of those polled stated that spending time outside improved their mood, going from gloomy, stressed, and worried to peaceful and balanced. Why is it that humans find nature to be so healing? Many studies suggest that views of nature create a calming impact shortly after a stressful incident. Blood pressure, respiration rate, brain activity, and the generation of stress hormones all decrease three to four minutes after seeing natural sights, and mood improves. This has an evolutionary advantage since it helps us swiftly recover and replenish our energy. Our ancestors' existence depended on their ability to quickly recover from stress in order to respond to new challenges readily.
Nature is also inextricably related to our spirituality as humans. We feel connected to creatures beyond ourselves and realize our interdependencies with other living forms while we are out in nature. Nature also encourages us to consider the ever-changing nature of existence and what may lie beyond it. Nature gives a spiritual space for us to connect with ourselves as well as with others.
A healing garden can take many different shapes, but it always involves some type of engagement with nature. Plants can inspire you with their vibrant hues or soothe you with their soothing tones. The soothing sound of running water or the energizing movement of passing wildlife can be heard. The fresh flavor of a crispy pea pod or sweet fruit tempts our taste senses, while the rich aroma of fresh earth and the lovely scent of fragrant herbs fill the air we breathe. The velvety smoothness of a flower petal or the movement of leaves in the breeze can both be felt.
Plant a container full of vibrant flowers, nutritious veggies, or a soothing herb like lavender, sage, basil, or thyme today to start your own healing garden. These and many more plants have been used medicinally for millennia, in addition to being attractive and scented. Just like the process of healing and recovery, the creation and growth of a healing garden takes time. That work, as well as the time spent in nature, heals our bodies and souls.
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