Honor Your Mother~Think About It!
By Charlotte Bennardo

It’s wonderful to meditate as you walk through a cool wood, or stroll among the bright flowers in a garden. No gardens or woods where you live? No prob—make your own. You can have a meditation garden anywhere.

Meditation gardens can be huge or miniature, inside or out, flowers or sand. The only limit is your imagination.

My meditation garden was an old vegetable patch, neglected and forgotten by the previous owners when we bought our house. The carrots and onions and stickerbushes choked everything. I’ve worked on it slowly, thoughtfully, adding flowers, fencing it in to protect it from the raiding deer, moving rocks, weeding native plants that would strangle anything in their path. Now I have a casual garden that I can enjoy when I need to feel close to Mother Earth and to meditate.

But a traditional garden isn’t the only choice. There are many types. English gardens are known for their roses, Dutch for their rainbow-hued tulips, Japanese for their use of sand and rock. Choose a style that won’t be too much to handle, fits what makes you feel good, and is appropriate for your space. To set up your garden:

Choose your space. For small spaces like condos or apartments, if you have a well lit tabletop or a sunny window, think container garden. A bowl or flower pot, even a bucket, can hold a variety of plants. Plus, you can take it with you when you move—even if it’s to the next room. If you have space outdoors, even if it’s just a tiny patch of dirt, use it. Just make sure the soil drains well and is healthy.

This is what my garden looked like before I got started!

Decide what type you want. You can’t have English roses in an apartment. Maybe you have a nice kitchen window sill and want fresh spices and herbs. Those do well in small pots. Don’t have a green thumb? You can still have a meditation garden. Japanese gardens use sand, bits of rock and tiny sculptures to create serene gardens. Books from your library and the internet are good sources of information on other types of gardens.

Set it up right. Don’t try to grow an evergreen tree in a pot. It looks nice for a short time, but the tree needs space, a cold period to ‘hibernate’ or rest, and a slightly acidic soil. It will turn brown and die. A better bet for small spaces are houseplants. For outdoor gardens, talk to your neighbors and walk around. You will see some plant varieties more often than others; this means these thrive well in your area and are easier to maintain than exotics (plants that don’t normally grow in the area).

Add a surprise element. Collect seashells, unusual rocks or driftwood, even small statutes to add whimsy to your garden. This is a space to relax, and if a fat Buddha or an grinning Gargoyle make you smile, use it!

Check it out. Set aside one day a week to water, look for bugs (even indoors!), weed or make sure hungry critters aren’t ruining your garden.

Visit often. A meditation garden is no good if you don’t use it. Try to make it a special time, not when you’re supposed to care for your garden, but when you can sit back, feel the energy of the sun and the joy of earth, and let go of stress or anger.

What kind is best for you? Think about it. (Hint: Want more planting ideas? How about a Fairy Chair?)

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