Gardening Sweet Spots
It happens every once in a while to everyone – a frustrating day at work or a day at home when nothing goes right. What to do? What to do? Head out to your garden for some restorative “garden therapy!”
Kneel down in a shady spot next to your garden and grab a handful of soil, squeeze and crumble. Mmmm. Feels good, releases tension and helps aerate the soil. Pick a lamb’s ear leaf and stroke the surface— as soft as a baby’s fleece blanket. So soothing. Forgetting that bad day yet? Clip the dead flowers off your annuals and perennials. Snip. Snip. Gone! And gone! Every negative feeling banished. Breathe in summer — the fragrance of new-mown grass, the scent of blooming flowers. Crush a lemon balm or mint leaf and sniff it for instant revival. Pick a few stems to steep for a cup of tea later. Pull a few weeds.
This is your moment to simply exist, to “be.” Feel the tension leave your body. There’s always something to be done in the garden, and in doing it, all unwelcome and stressful thoughts will disappear. This is why it works. You’re engaging in “mindfulness” and thus not allowing your mind to wander; as well as engaging in a physical workout — whether you’re conscious of this or not. While you’re pulling that weed – giving your body a workout in the process – you won’t be thinking about the hurtful comments a colleague at work shouted at you or the household tasks still waiting for your attention.*
Gardening has a rich history in the United States and its therapeutic benefits are part of that. In the late 1700s, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a prominent physician and Declaration of Independence signer, documented that garden settings and digging in gardens were significant factors in recovery for patients with mental illness. As a result, interest in therapeutic landscapes emerged and gardening as rehabilitation was born.
The first U.S. horticultural therapy curriculum was established in 1972 as part of the mental health program at Kansas State University. Since that time, therapeutic horticulture and healing gardens have blossomed in U.S. settings as diverse as hospitals, schoolyards and prison grounds. Sensory-oriented, plant-dominated and packed with fragrance, color and texture, these gardens may be meant for passive enjoyment or active work. Either way, visitors enjoy therapeutic benefits that include reduced stress and anxiety, and increased hope and happiness.**
Following are suggestions that can make your garden more inviting for a revitalizing garden therapy interlude:
- Provide comfortable seating for a quiet place to sit and just “be.”
- Make sure shade is available by adding screens, trellises or large plants.
- Create a water feature. Still water provides a setting for meditation, while the sound and sight of moving water can be restorative.
- Add a splash of color to your garden, which will provide a visual stimulus. Warm colors enliven the emotions and promote activity, while cool colors tend to be soothing.
- Engage your sense of smell by adding fragrant plants alongside garden seating and paths.
- Add texture to your garden by choosing plants that are durable enough to withstand frequent brushing or handling.
- Sound expands the garden experience. Cultivate plants that rustle in even a light breeze.***
Amid a day of anxiety, retreat to your garden. It always worked for me after a stressful day at work and now that I’m retired, and especially in these uncertain and challenging times, even minor tinkering in my garden beds makes me smile, gives me something to show for my efforts, and clears my mind.
Photo courtesy Pexels.com
Information sources:
*www.stress.org/garden-reduce-stress (April 1, 2019)
**Studies from various medical journals quoted in GardenTech.com/blog
*** birds and blooms.com
