If a garden was being planned to surround a newly restored Colonial home, it would be created with plants of that period and in the style or arrangement of the day. The garden maker uses various tools to accomplish that end: the arrangement of space, selection of plants and the addition of constructed elements to support the overall theme. In accomplishing this, the garden maker has created space that is profoundly linked to the building. What was once nothing more than bare ground becomes a statement of a period past, with its goals and aspirations reflected in every aspect of the garden.

Creation of a garden designed to inspire requires the same attention to layout, plants and constructed elements as the historic garden. The process of creating any garden is a spiritual exercise in itself, because good design is always built upon a “big idea.” This is the umbrella under which the intent and direction of the design are established. Gardens can be based on such big ideas as nature, water, the feminine, memorials, and the heavens. There are an infinite number of big ideas, and the one you choose will be meaningful and sacred to you. Equal in importance to the big idea is the function of the garden. Spiritual gardens serve the gardener in a most intimate way. As the great landscape architect Thomas Church said, “Gardens are for people.” His work was critical in the evolution of the residential garden from a visual showplace of the Victorian mind to the interactive, indoor/outdoor use of space so typical of the modern garden. So, too, should spiritual gardens serve the gardener in a most intimate way.

There are four basic characteristics that dictate the function of a garden. Understanding how each one works will be critical to how the garden is laid out.

REST
People today suffer from decision overload. Every day we spend time deciding which product to buy, where to park, which bill to pay, what to have for dinner. All these small, seemingly insignificant decisions add up until our minds revolt under the strain. The luxury of allowing just 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to do nothing, to stop and rest the body and the mind, is worth more than pure gold.

To rest is to renew the self. We sleep at night to recharge our body for the coming day’s challenges. The spiritual garden can be a place of rest, with a seat or chaise lounge for the body, plenty of natural beauty for the eyes, and as much quiet as we can manage for the mind.

The importance of rest to anyone who works in any kind of problem-solving or creative profession is unmistakable. Denying this relaxation can hinder output and limit the mind’s creative potential.

REFLECTION
For many of life’s dilemmas, there are no simple answers. To many of life’s mysteries, there are no clear explanations. So much that cannot be expressed in words comes to us in impressions, feelings and emotions—all of which gain focus under sufficient reflection or contemplation.

This introspection should not be confused with some forms of meditation, which are based upon the emptying of the mind in a search for total peace. Certainly, there is value in such meditation as practiced in many Eastern religions. But the Western tradition is more of a sorting-out process—a mulling over of ideas, words, and situations—that leads to truth or resolution. No matter what your reflection, contemplation, or meditation goals, the garden provides the most ideal environment for thought—particularly for those who work indoors
each day.

PRAYER
During times of grief and joy, desperation and thanksgiving, prayer becomes a cathartic act. There are as many types of prayer as there are people, for prayer is a very personal act.

Among the many old religious sites, there are small shrines, appearing in the strangest of places, which are clearly sacred and remind us to stop and say a few words to the heavens.

Throughout India there are roadside shrines that consist of nothing more than a stone or a wall painted brightly to represent one of the Hindu deities, and passersby often stop to recognize that place by leaving incense or vivid, colored paper. So, too, in the mountains of Eastern Europe are roadside Christian shrines where travelers stop and pray for a safe journey.

The garden provides a similar opportunity for us to draw apart from the rat race and pray. It takes great concentration for us to focus the mind on prayer after a crazy, hectic day at the office, yet these are the times we need it most.

Gardens provide us with this vital separation where we may compose our thoughts and formulate prayer. It is clear that, through prayer, we may discover answers that require no psychoanalysis, no self-help books, and no seminars. It is a mystical experience that we cannot explain, but we know deeply how effective it can be.

CELEBRATION
The garden is an environment in which we control nature, and this wonderland of vegetation is the greatest miracle of all. Plants notify us of the season by flowering, fruiting or losing their leaves. They show us dryness by wilting; notify us of wind by swaying, and their lean points out just which direction the breeze flows. These are all miracles that happen around us every day, and the garden should call us to celebrate them as gifts of beauty.

To create a garden inspired by our souls and spirits is to reclaim the origins of true inspiration known so well by artists, poets and lovers. The gem beyond all prices is
the human heart. It is enriched by the simple things, the flowers and the birds, cooling shade, the sound of falling water, and every creation of earth and the heavens. To celebrate the garden rooted deeply in our spirits is the rediscovery of what has been known for thousands of years: that nature is the greatest cathedral of all, the most stunning of creations, providing us
the ideal environment in which to cultivate our souls. •