How to Create a Healing Garden

I am a huge believer in the healing power of gardens. Healing gardens are not new, beginning with Japanese Zen gardens and the monastic cloister garden. Claude Monet used his garden to aid recovery from a debilitating depression, then he painted it to help heal the war-torn French nation. For years, healing gardens have been found at hospital and healthcare facilities where they provide a place of refuge for patients, family, and staff. The 'Secret Garden' at the Ronald McDonald house of Eastern Wisconsin is a wonderful example. Some healing gardens help veterans cope with post-traumatic stress. If you have a family member recovering from a serious illness such as cancer or stroke, or if there is a veteran in your home, consider creating a garden that heals. Research has shown that when you connect with nature, positive changes occur in the body: lowering blood pressure, decreasing heart rate, reducing stress, and improving mood. Most of us are dealing with stress in our everyday lives; we would all benefit from our own healing garden bringing nature's positive effects on our physical and mental well-being. Here are a few hints and ideas for designing a wellness garden at home.

Establish Goals

There are two types of healing gardens: restorative and enabling. In a restorative garden you achieve benefits from just walking or sitting, while an enabling garden's therapeutic results occur when you actively garden. To help decide which type to create, make a list of the three most important health concerns of you or your family. This is my list for example: 1. Eat healthy 2. Less stress. 3. Garden as long as possible as I age. To achieve these goals, I would need to create a restorative garden to help reduce stress and an enabling one that provides fresh vegetables. Adding raised beds would make it easier for me to garden as I age. Your garden should address specific healing needs and accommodate the limitations of the visitor or gardener. Of course, it must be visually pleasing. Once you have decided your basic goals, it is possible to prioritize design features.

Hardscape

Start with the hardscape; think of the garden as an outdoor room. To unify the areas in your backyard or side gardens, include paths and patios that your planting beds will surround. If you need to accommodate wheelchairs, make sure your paths are wide enough—a five-foot minimum is preferred. Path surfaces must be firm and smooth. Consider privacy walls and shade structures. Incorporate natural elements such as driftwood and large stones. Use steppingstones—they'll make you slow down.

Incorporate Water, Sound, and Lighting

A water feature evokes a feeling of relaxation. It does not have to be elaborate; a simple rock bubbler will do the trick. If you have a larger space, consider a pond or waterfall. The sound of water encourages contemplation. Or maybe you could hang a windchime at the entrance to your garden as a veil you go through into your healing space. Hang wooden chimes for their meditative tones in other spots. If you spend time in your sanctuary in the evening, use LED lighting to set off plants to their best advantage. Drape a string of lights over an arbor or tree. Discreetly placed lights create beautiful shadows and draw attention to colors and textures in your garden.

Attract Wildlife

Create habitat to encourage wildlife to the garden for its healing energy. Attract butterflies, birds, and insects by providing birdhouses, birdfeeders, birdbaths, and plants that supply nectar and food. Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum), purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea), and brightly hued asters (Aster spp.) are nectar-filled favorites. Bring in the hummingbirds with a bed of Jacob Cline beebalm (Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline').

Provide Seating

Include places to sit and observe the beauty of nature. A simple bench, or lightweight chairs that can easily be moved to favorable spots, will suffice. Or choose a comfortable chair, hammock, or glider. Take the comfort of your seating area a step further by transforming it into a secluded retreat defined by sheer curtains or plantings. An outdoor carpet can help specify the space and add comfort. Include an outdoor bookshelf or a blanket box. In the evening, light a few candles or lanterns in your space.

Make Focal Points

Your healing garden should have a focal point for meditation and reflection. Suitable focal points include a piece of sculpture, a special plant, interesting rocks, or a water fountain. Be aware that brightly colored objects or other unnatural garden art materials can take away the healing effects of your garden.

Choose Plants

Reduce Maintenance

When you have the hardscaping in place, it's time to choose plants. Find out what plant hardiness zone your location is in and reduce maintenance by growing plants suitable for that zone. Place plants with similar needs (water, sunlight, soil) together. Another tip for lowering maintenance is to use fewer varieties and more of each. This has the added benefit of providing unity.

Grow What You Like

When deciding which plants to add to your healing garden, remember to grow what you like. If bright colors energize you include annuals such as zinnias, petunias, sunflowers, or cosmos. Color stimulates mood and positive emotions. Use calming blues and greens to de-stress, cheery pink and invigorating red when recovering from depression, and your healing garden should have lots of purple.

Evoke Memories

I like to incorporate some plants that touched me as a child. Scent memory is very strong, so I grow herbs such as rosemary, lemon verbena, lavender, and chocolate mint. Their therapeutic fragrances take me back to my grandmother's garden and kitchen. Choosing plants that trigger positive emotions from a person's past, such as old-fashioned hollyhocks or lilacs, is especially helpful if your healing garden is for someone with Alzheimer's.

Grow Your Own Tea

Plants for making teas are lovely in a healing garden. Try growing and infusing anise hyssop, catnip, chamomile, and lemon balm.

More Hints

I also love ornamental grasses for the therapeutic garden. They sway in the wind, bringing attention to a soft breeze that otherwise may go unnoticed. Avoid thorny and toxic plants. Always choose insect- and disease-resistant varieties to eliminate pesticide use.

Making a healing garden, like healing and recovery from an illness, takes time. Enjoy the journey, for as Thoreau says, "Nature is another name for health."