Healing Gardens

Therapeutic Gardens for the Elderly

The evidence is in that the use of healing or therapeutic gardens for older citizens is beneficial to their well being. There have been many psychological and physical benefits documented that prove gardening provides natural relief from a myriad of issues that plague senior citizens.

It’s especially helpful to have a plot for growing vegetables, fruit and herbs so that those who are physically able to work in the garden can improve their physical strength in things like hand-grip, reducing blood pressure and anxiety by lessening stress, and improving the body mass index. Continue reading

Designing a Healing Garden for Easy MaintenanceCreating a healing garden that’s easy to maintain is all in the initial design element. If you want a healing garden, it’s likely that you need to spend time enjoying the ambiance of it and not spending all your time maintaining it.

Since the design element is so crucial to the maintenance issues of your healing garden, it’s best that you spend some time in research about the size and scope of the garden you want, versus how much time you have to spend taking care of it.

A large pond with Koi and water features may sound like the ideal garden space to relax and meditate, but in reality, this type of garden is going to take a lot of your off time maintaining.

If you can afford a gardener to take care of it or are retired and enjoy the maintenance part of gardening, go for it. Otherwise, take some time to research garden ideas and then make decisions on the design elements.

Many people are happy with xeric (zen-like) gardens that are simplistic, but that offer some excellent elements that can become a place where you can hang out with a book or friends or meditate to your heart’s content.

Choosing plants and other features that make for easy maintenance is also crucial for an easy to maintain healing garden. Those plants that need to be dead-headed or pruned periodically may not be for you. Continue reading

Attracting Beneficial Wildlife to Your Healing Garden

A healing garden can be beneficial to the wildlife surrounding the environment if you know which plants to choose to attract them. Many people use sprays and harsh chemicals to rid their gardens of pests and as a result they kill off many that would be a boon to their gardens and help provide bountiful harvests.

One way that wildlife can benefit a healing garden are the sights and sounds they provide. Fish in a water feature of your garden can provide beauty (Koi are especially beautiful) and keep the water clean and the bad bacteria at bay. Continue reading