Want a good quality of life with gardens? Most everyone knows the great feeling when the world around them just seems orderly, clean, calming, and positive. External surroundings have a profound effect on a person.
The effect can smack one in the face or create a more subtle response. However it is delivered, the result is a satisfying one and makes for great peace of mind.
That peace of mind calms the nerves, gives one a sense of accomplishment, and a sense of security. Just think of a nice-looking, clean, and strong running automobile. Driving a good car is empowering and lets the mind think of positive things. Likewise, staying in a good hotel on a vacation or business trip is good therapy for a tired traveler. Eating a good meal in a clean environment allows the body to rest and fully recover from a hectic schedule. Positive vibes invigorate mind and body, stress is lessened.
Just as some of these simple things have healing powers so does one’s own yard and garden. Imagine coming home from work in the evening after a particularly tough day. The work day was long, you started it being tired in the first place, things didn’t go as planned, and the traffic on the drive home was extraordinarily aggravating. What kind of effect on your mental state would you expect if you pulled into your driveway and saw untrimmed shrubs, the lawn uncut and full of weeds, garbage strewn around, and not a single place to sit down outside and relax? Probably, your stress level would escalate even more and your health would suffer.
Now imagine coming home from the same bad day, driving up the driveway, and seeing an outdoor environment that was just the opposite. The lawn is lush and green, having just been mowed. The flower beds are in full bloom, butterflies are flitting around everywhere. There’s a nice secluded spot in the yard where no one can see you, there’s a comfortable chair just waiting for you. What would that do to your stress level? I guarantee it would immediately have a calming effect. One’s surroundings have a positive effect whether you realize it or not. Was it a smack in the face? Or, did a calming, secure sensation come over you? Either way, a good environment is healthy medicine for the soul.
This is why it is important to keep your landscape clean, neat, orderly, and well maintained. Gardens are good medicine! Even just a small outdoor space designed with plants that flower, provide sight and noise screening, and seclusion can calm the nerves and turn a bad day into a good one. Imagine your entire yard as therapy. Kitchen gardens enable you to stay outdoors even longer while you prepare dinner and relax. Design your landscape with therapy in mind. You can have garden rooms that make you relax. Or, you can have garden rooms that help you read, sleep, or even create things. One’s landscape is the perfect place to create the world the way you want it. Design and build gardens as if they were your own, personal, psyche rehab center. The rewards will be great and you’ll probably live longer too!
Comments