The Sanctuary Garden: Creating a Place of Refuge in Your Yard or Garden

by Christopher Forrest McDowell, Tricia Clark-McDowell

Use the power of nature to find peace in your own backyard and enrich your life.

A garden can be far more than a place to plant a row of zinnias or tomatoes -- it can be a place of sanctuary. With the help of "The Sanctuary Garden" you can make your own yard or garden a place of serenity, peacefulness, and beauty. No matter how large or small your garden is, it can provide a sense of safety and comfort. And through a deep relationship with nature based on intention, reflection, and contemplation, each of us can gather strength, and our spirits may be renewed.

Ask most gardeners what gardening is and they are likely to tell you that it is primarily about plants -- which ones to select, grow, propagate, and nurture. But as you will discover in this book, the seven design elements of a sanctuary garden speak less about vegetation than they do about other often overlooked considerations such as:

Creating a special entrance that invites the visitor into a sense of sanctuary Effectively using water for its psychological, spiritual, and physical effects Creatively using color and lighting to elicit emotion, comfort, and awe in the visitor Creating sitting areas that enfold the visitor into the sanctuary experience by providing a place of rest for body and soul Highlighting natural features as anchor points, including the use of rocks, wood, natural fences, screens, trellises, wind, and sound to evoke emotion Integrating art that enhances the overall mood Providing habitat and features to attract a diversity of wildlife to share your sanctuary

Illustrated with eight radiant full-page watercolors and hand-drawn illustrations, "The Sanctuary Garden: Creating a Place of Refugein Your Yard or Garden" offers a unique guide to living your life and designing your garden with purpose, contemplation, and, above all, harmony.

Genres: Gardening

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 1998

Reviews

[Bonnie Westmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much!!!! It has been my favorite book since far this summer. I read it out in my garden with a cup of tea, incense burning and birds singing. Every page was a haven and reading it was a silent retreat. It gave me so many ideas for my own sacred peace garden that I can’t wait to get to work. My favorites were the personal stories, “Sacred Space” and “Habitat for Wildlife.” All we’re amazing and engaging though. My tired soul is rested, my mind and body are relaxed. This book has a calming effect and you can’t help but feel at peace reading it.

[Sandra de Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a re-read. I visited this garden in 2004, the year I created my first sanctuary garden. I'm about to create another, so this was a good read for me.

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book takes you around the garden, exploring various aspects of it besides just the plants. The authors use their garden as a home-away-from-home and tell you ways in which you can do the same by creating a place you enjoy being, maybe even more so than indoors.

[Leahcar Serffish]

Some lovely and inspiring ideas to create a sense of calm and peace in your garden.