Retreat to the Garden

Nothing is better than relaxing in your backyard sipping a summer drink admiring the beauty of the gardens. Your garden is a great place to retreat to awaken all of your senses. I have a few suggestions on how to get the most out of any type or size of garden.

Visual

• Gardening is an enjoyable but labour intensive for the first few years. It is also very expensive during those first few years as well. Try and not do your whole garden in one season unless you have vast monetary and worker resources. Start with making a beautiful garden close to the back door. Map out the area and go to the local greenhouse for hints and suggestions on what type of plants will grow well in your garden area. A shade loving plant gets less than 4 hours of sunshine a day. When planting get a mixture of plants that vary in age. This way you get an instant garden and throughout the summer new and interesting flowers will grow for you to admire. Always plant flowers that you find visually pleasing, do not plant for anyone but yourself and the family. Situate your seating area facing the new garden. Place a few ornamental objects in the garden. Do not buy cheap objects that you do not find inspiring, rather wait until you are able to purchase a product. Windmills look great in gardens and are quite mesmorizing to watch. As well, place a plaque in the garden with inspiring words of wisdom. Visually the garden should inspire you as your eyes wander all over the flowers and plants.

  Smell

• Going into a beautiful garden is even more wonderful with the sweet scents of lavender or any other flower. Scent in the garden is very important. We all feel great after smelling a beautiful rose, it whisks us away to a more peaceful time. The smell seems to relax our body and soul. Some flowers are beautiful but have quite a terrible smell. I would recommend placing a few beautiful and sweeting smelling flowers in the garden. Sweet tyme is great to place as ground cover. As your feet walk on this plant it gives off a wonderful scent. Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed I love smelling my lavender and chamomille plants, it brings happiness back into my heart and releases the anxious feelings for the moment.

  Taste

• Nothing tastes sweeter than grabbing a fresh strawberry or radish from your garden. My home will be surronded by plants that look great but that also tastes great. I have planted pole beans that have beautiful red flowers and attract wonderful humming birds. This year I devoted my time and energy into a vegetable garden, next year I will be adding fruit to another part of my yard. It is wonderful to grab a handful of mint leaves to make a fresh cup of peppermint tea to reconnect my soul with the earth. There are some of us who do not have the desire or time to devote to a vegetable or fruit patch. Little effort is needed to grow fresh herbs, start with one or two and before long you will be addicted.
  The copyright of the article Retreat to the Garden in Simple Living is owned by Debbie DeSpirt. Permission to republish Retreat to the Garden in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

  Go To Page: 1 2

  Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic