The Healing Power of Gardens Learning that you have a life threatening illness is a difficult moment to comprehend.
Suddenly you find yourself questioning some of the choices you ve made with sharp clarity.
Priorities that seemed vital at the time can seem irrelevant in a second.
Your world is upside down and your control over it seems to have vanished.
This point in time is one I have watched and comforted many through during my time as an oncology nurse.
On one day the Sales targets and productivity decline are all you can think about, and then a few days later you can only think of curling up in front of the fire and holding your family close.
Why do we have to get to that point in our lives before valuing what is truly important enough to change We don t.
We just need to connect with ourselves honestly and often to be able to have that insight.
With that, perhaps the illness part can be avoided, or at least, managed with an internal peace.
Gardens ideally are our own interpretation of nature.
When an understanding of how our personal connection to nature is gained, a garden created from that knowledge can be a very powerful healer.
Imagine seeing from your window a scene so enticing and peaceful that it feels like every favourite memory is woven through it.
The gnarled old tree takes you back to childhood and a carefree time of sheer joy.
You want to lean against the tree and absorb that memory again.
The little winding path that disappears into the forest feels like an invitation to escape and beckons to you.
The mounded lawn under a shady tree waits for you to lay there with your children and find shapes in the clouds.
That comfy seat tucked into a deep garden bed spilling over with flowers and scent is just missing you, with a good book.
If any of these scenes make you sigh with content, then this is a connection that would heal you.
A long term illness put me in touch with my love of nature many years ago.
I found a need to create a beautiful and meaningful environment around me.
Through that connection to nature as I painstakingly built a dry stone wall for my vegie garden, I began to heal.
As I collected luscious flowering plants from around Melbourne and watched them grow and flower, I discovered joy and hope again.
Lost amongst towering corn and beans, I found a purpose I could connect to and it propelled me into health.
A few years of study later, my first landscape design client found me.
Now 12 years on, every garden I create whether residential, commercial or educational is an opportunity to connect people to themselves through nature.
We discover their memories of nature together, and then I set about weaving them into an inspiring, beautiful garden.
It is wonderful to watch people let go of the world with that sigh as they come into an uplifting garden space.
Their focus shifts to the area that has drawn them into a memory or dream and they want to stay there.
Nature is working its magic.
Large or small, the size of the space doesn t matter.
A little Soupbowl garden planted with a beautiful miniature forest can start the change just let your imagination put your mind in a box for a little while and see how you feel afterwards.
Was that half an hour really so difficult to give to yourself - Wendy Wendy Clarke is the Director of Dirtscape Dreaming Pty Ltd, a multiple award winning landscape Design Company now based in Mt Martha.
www.dirtscapedreaming.com.au ph 5974 4551 Dirtscape Dreaming will be presenting a show garden at the Mind Body Spirit festival, Melb Exhibition Centre 10th 13th June, 2011.
Framing Your Windows Why not think about updating your window furnishings for the new season Roslay Furnishings was established in 1988 by Michael and Rose Lay.
The aim was to give the Peninsula residents an alternative to the large Melbourne firms operating here by offering excellent quality and value and service.
Roslay grew rapidly from just selling blinds to also offering a full range of soft furnishings and drapes.
They have some beautiful new displays in their Rosebud Showroom.
All the latest products are on display, in a gorgeous range of fabrics and colours.
Roslay offer an obligation free in home consultation with experienced consultants including a fully qualified interior decorator.
Roslay Furnishings is proud to be associated with well known brands such as Designed Blinds Australia, Just Blinds and Shutters, Mulga Shade, Gilligans, Wilson, Hoad, Charles Parsons, Rowe, Maurice Kain, Filigree, Warwick, Zepel and many more.
Their aim is to provide an excellent range of curtains, soft furnishings and blinds with value for money and a level of service and quality second to none.
Specialising in the Design, Supply and Installation of Premium, Custom Made Window Furnishings, with a Full Measure, Quote and Installation Service for - Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne and South Eastern Suburbs Curtains and Pelmets Swags and Tails Rollscreens Custom Romans Plantation Shutters Timber Venetians Soft Shade Motorisation Shop 2 13 Rosebud Parade, Rosebud 5981 1088 wrought iron Furniture, Gates, Fences, Balustrades, Signs, Mirrors, Candelabras and more ..
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www.irontwist.com.au 03 5978 0662 david.last ironictwist.com.au Factory 17 15 Arduina Street, Somerville 120 good life, june -july, august 2011