Escape from it all---

Sanctuary Garden—Garden of the Spirit—Garden Room—

Call it what you may, these places remain special areas, they are a place to become in touch with God, nature, and to lose (or find) one’s self through meditation and prayer.

We choose to title our garden a sanctuary, to escape the hustle and mind-numbing of today’s lifestyle, a place where we immerse ourselves in solitude, or welcome a friend.  Places to sooth the jangled nerves and renew the spirit.  These are truly special places.

So what are the requirements to create this special place?  It’s a personal thing, not something you’ll find prepackaged at the huge mass-market stores, and these special places come from within.  Stroll through your garden once when you are not rushed and leave your mind and heart open to a spot that sings to you.

Once you have found it, embellish it, personalize it or leave it “as is”(after all it caught your spirit as it was)  Creating a Sanctuary Garden should be tailored to you with your likes and influences, all done for you and your family’s pleasure.

No one can tell you exactly how to create it, but we can offer a few suggestions

        *Seek- Recognize a special place, be it a view or pleasant vista, the draping embrace of a tree or nothing more than a secluded corner of your backyard.

         *Rest-Provide some seating, a bench, a few chairs or a hammock.  Children often think nothing of flopping on the ground, and sometimes neither do we, but most of the time seating is appreciated.  It encourages a lingering stay in the calming influence of the garden.

           *Listen-Enhance the special place with natural sounds.  A bird bath or a bird house will have your feathered guest singing their appreciation.  Consider a water feature, the soothing music of water flowing over river rocks or trickling from a bamboo water pipe is exquisite.  (Avoid the canned music in foam rocks syndrome!)

            *Watch-Select plants that give texture, color and especially fragrance.  Take the time to add plants that may hold some special memories or have a special appeal to you.

             *Enjoy-Sit back in the loving embrace of your garden and enjoy it along with family and friends.

  

PLANTING SUGGESTIONS FOR A SANCTUARY GARDEN

As for actual plant suggestion, first you must consider the amount of sunlight in your garden area.  If the area is predominately shady, consider a mass planting of fragrant flowering hostas or a small sea of frothy ferns, or a mixture of both including shade loving herbs like Sweet Woodruff and the sweet fragrance and ferny leaf of Sweet Cicely. A dark corner in the garden can be lit up with variegated hostas and white flowering plants.  A few Ostrich or Cinnamon ferns towards the back and the shorter brighter Japanese Painted ferns will add texture and movement around a water feature or in the corner of the garden area.

If you have light shade to sun situation, you may enjoy Monarda, also known as Bee Balm but really more of a hummingbird magnet than a bee attracter.  Use flowers that you remember from pleasant times in your life, for instance my red and white coral Bells remind me of  a song I sang as a Girl Scout!  Old-fashioned columbines offer various color combinations and take us back to Grandmother’s garden.

If your special spot is in a bright area, make sure you select flowers that thrive in the sun such as lavender and roses.  These plants perfume the air quite readily and don’t forget herbs that add their sweet scents too. The gray-silver herbs such as Santolina and Artemisia are often used between various color combinations and the added bonus is that they “glow in the moonlight”.  A Moon Garden is another dimension and we have more information on Moon Gardening coming soon.)  Although we love the sun, we do recommend planting a small tree off to one side and adding a garden arbor or gazebo for some protection and shade when the sun turns stronger in the summer.  Soften the edges of the structure by planting a perennial vine such as Silver lace vine, Sweet Autumn Clematis, Flowering Clematis,  Honeysuckle vine or Trumpet vine to grow over the arbor.  There are many annual vines that can be planted in combination with the perennial ones or grown in containers with trellis support such as Cardinal Climber, Moon Vine, Hyacinth Bean vine, and of course a great variety of Morning Glories.

And of course, don’t forget that container planting can add a great deal to your special garden   and they can be placed in areas that need   a “focal point”.  Container planting is also a benefit for those gardeners that do not have a large area to garden as well as those of us who need to scale back from a large garden to one that is more easily maintained.

And of course, don’t forget to take the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor; life isn’t just about working---

Take time

Barb