All Gardens Have a Function

All types of gardens are functional. A vegetable garden's function is to yield a bounty of produce. Food for the very people who faithfully tilled and amended the soil and planted the tiny seeds early in the beginnings of spring; watered and weeded and watered and weeded and watered and weeded throughout the long, hot, sunny summer days. Then, finally gathered in the harvest and feasted upon the gifts of the garden, their just reward.

The function of a cut-flower garden is to produce armloads of vibrant flowers for bouquets for the enjoyment of the gardener, his/her family and friends. Even strangers driving or walking past can enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the brilliant, colorful flower garden.

The function of a well-kept garden is its beauty and enjoyment for all. It may be a sun garden, a shade garden, a hillside garden, rock garden, a patio garden, hanging garden, container garden, raised bed garden, a trailing vine and climbing garden, a formal garden, an informal garden, rose garden, a meditation or Zen garden, a water garden, ANY type of garden. There are hundreds of types of gardens, but the function of any garden is to give enjoyment.

A garden gives back much more to us we can ever give to it even though we spend many hours designing, planting and maintaining our gardens. One of the most 'giving' types of garden is the healing garden.

The type of healing garden I mean isn't the kind where the gardener plants medicinal herbs for home remedies and aroma therapy; although, those plants certainly are welcome in the healing garden I'm talking about. The healing garden I mean is one that provides a healing space for the body, mind, and soul.

This garden is fresh, green and bright with trees, flowers, chirping birds, and, if we're lucky, maybe a butterfly or two. This garden is a green tranquil getaway. Maybe its an escape from a hospital's frenzied corridors, or a brief respite from the stale, unpleasant smell of a nursing facility. Perhaps it's a tiny space behind a shelter for battered women or a park-like area near the homeless shelter. It could be a shady, tree-lined outdoor patio area at an addictions treatment center. Sometimes it is the roof or courtyard of a large downtown building where children go to speak with counselors when they are going through the difficult journey of mourning and grieving the death of a parent or grandparent.

These healing gardens provide therapeutic benefits far beyond what even the finest, most prestigious medical centers can offer. Miracles can and do happen in these tranquil garden spaces. Cancer cells and tumors mysteriously disappear, a battered woman gains the courage to leave her husband, an alcoholic feels hope for the first time in years, a child wipes away tears and smiles again.

Healing gardens can happen at ordinary, family homes too. Just the act of preparing soil for planting and handling tender green plants magically renews the energy of a gardener who is tired, discouraged, sad or depressed. Problems, quandaries, worries all can be solved much easier when working in your garden. Problems seem smaller and sometimes dissolve entirely when hands are digging in dirt. Tempers simmer, anger lessens, clarity returns and the world seems right again.

All gardens have a function.