Create Your Own Healing Garden

By Terry Johnson, IPF Vice Chair and New Luxury Expert

In Martha M. Tyson’s wonderful book: The Healing Landscape: Therapeutic Outdoor Environments, she perfectly sums up what is so essential about gardens:
“The garden or landscape is connected to people in a way that is uniquely healing in its essence. The restorative qualities of gardens span the human spectrum and have no social, cultural, or ethnic boundaries. Gardens may contain elements that are specific to culture, climate, or time; however, the simple truth of their existence reflects the universal for human interaction with nature, with humans as stewards of the land.”

Tyson is talking about one of three benefits to human healing that gardens can provide.
The first benefit is the restorative power of enjoying a completed garden.
The second wellness benefit is a prequel to the completed garden: the therapeutic effects gained from the process of gardening.
Anyone spending serious time gardening will feel the amazing positive effects that come from the gardening process.  The satisfaction coming from gardening and major stress reduction are two great reasons for gardening. And once the gardening process is completed, the wellness benefits of a completed garden kick in!
The third benefit is The Healing Garden.

Plants and flowers offer tremendous healing benefits that include rebuilding immune systems, detoxifying organs and tissues, and even slowing the aging process.
And there are many ways you can bring plants into your home and lifestyle, using them safely and effectively to enhance your wellbeing. 

You can learn more about the benefits of healing gardens from Dr. Danica-Lea Larcombe, who has a background in environmental health and has completed a PhD on biodiversity and human health through the Centre for Ecosystem Management at Edith Cowan University. Her "study from home" MasterClass starts each first Monday of the month. 
Reconnecting with nature is such an important activity for all of us in today’s stress-filled environment, and gardening and gardens (especially healing gardens) can lead us to health and happiness in several significant ways.