You Grow Girl™

September 11. How should we remember it? There is no doubt that memorials should be built. But memorials can be in the form of gardens. And gardens can be very healing.

In Las Vegas, we have several healing gardens either already built or being planned. These are not Sept. 11 gardens, but they show the healing properties a garden can have. One is in a courtyard at a local hospital and is accessible to patients, visitors and staff. One comprises a landscape at a newer hospital to give the whole grounds a healing effect. Another two are planned at local hospices. These may incorporate hardscape features as well as plants for a meditative effect.

When we look outside, nature can teach us some valuable lessons. It teaches us that life is a cycle of passing seasons. Seasons of growth, maturity, senescence, death, waiting, then rebirth. What season was the country in a year ago? Where is it today? Seasons are personal as well.

These lessons are especially well-taught through plants. For in a garden, we can control the planting and the harvesting. We can plant flowers to make us happy, vegetables to feed us, herbs to soothe us. When we plan a healing garden, we choose those plants with attributes that calm us and make us feel good. Healing gardens utilize color, texture, form, and fragrance to create a peaceful atmosphere.

Another option is the memorial garden. This would utilize symbolic plants and hardscape features to pay honor to something or someone. A birdhouse to entice a favorite bird, beloved rose bushes, a flag...

Still another type of garden that could be used is a gratitude garden. This type of garden emphasizes the joy of life through the gifts that we receive, either from the garden itself, or from people in our life. It may feature objects for play, or big, bold topiaries.

Any garden can be special. Just working in a garden or watching a garden has an effect on body and spirit. It's the nurturing of the garden that gives life meaning.

Surely our grandparents knew the effect of gardens on people. They just didn't use the term horticultural therapy. So maybe we should look back in time as we look forward to the future. And let's gather some flowers...