My journey to a peaceful garden | MNN - Mother Nature Network

A few years ago, when I went in for my yearly check-up (okay, I?m not that good. It had been a couple years since I?d been to the doctor), I was a bit surprised to see that I had high blood pressure. The doctor said that it wasn?t at a super concerning level, but that I should search for ways to relax, and be sure to engage in healthy living habits. He gave me a list of activities that are supposed to be soothing and help lower blood pressure. I looked at the list skeptically. Meditation, yoga, exercise, gardening. If I was overly stressed, it was because I was low on time. Trying to make time for this extra stuff wasn?t going to help anything.

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I?ll admit it. I didn?t start working out after that. The thought of working out made me feel good for a couple of days. Then it started making me feel horrible because I hadn?t followed through. Then I stopped thinking about it and went back to my day-to-day activities. Life went on, and every time I thought about my blood pressure, it probably experienced a little spike.

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Then spring came. The grass started growing, and my lawn started to need attention. I was looking into my backyard and thought that maybe I would plant some shrubs, since the yard was looking a little sparse. Yard work is supposed to be good for you, so maybe I could get some healthy activity done while making my yard look better.

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Then I made the mistake that has probably had the most positive impact on my life out of all the other choices I?ve made. I went to the home and garden store to get some supplies and a couple plants. What I didn?t know is that I was entering my new second home.

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I had looked up a couple things about landscaping before I went to the store. Certain plants did better in certain soils, look for native plants, blah blah blah. I had helped my mom in the garden when I was a kid. I had helped friends with landscaping projects before. I could figure it out.

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Ha.

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Having never actually planned a landscaping project, I ended up standing in the store?s greenroom staring at my options for quite some time. I denied several offers of assistance before finally saying. ?I?m looking for ? plants? To put in my ? backyard?? I felt like a self-conscious teenage girl. I was sure the attendant was judging me, thinking, ?What is this guy even doing here? He doesn?t have a clue.?

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But she wasn?t. The nice lady had dealt with probably 100 other people every month who were just as clueless as I was. She started asking me questions. ?What kind of soil is in your yard?? ?Um?? ?What color is it? Does it feel like sand, or is it more gravelly??

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She asked me a million questions. How much time did I plan on spending on maintenance? Did I want a flowering bush or just something green? I had to think. I had to make decisions. I had to buy something instead of giving up. She was that awesome.

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That weekend I dug up a corner of my lawn. I drank a lot of water. I planted my newly acquired shrubbery. I gave it the proper amount of water, as well as putting down the special soil I had purchased. I stepped back and admired my work. Then my eye was drawn to a section of my lawn to my right. It looked kind of shabby comparatively.

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That whole summer I kept coming up with yard projects. I planted trees. I put flower beds against my house. I replaced my front sidewalk with stepping stones shaped like paw prints. My creativity was sparked, and the completion of one project always led to the anticipation of the next one.

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I started reading about gardening. It was too late to start a garden, but I could prepare for next year. I read about which plants benefitted each other. I spent weeks trying to find the perfect tomato cage. I had caught a disease, and it was saving my life.

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Okay, that last line was a bit cheesy. Don?t worry. I didn?t start dating the lady from the plant store or anything else rom-com like. But I did have an amazing summer, and it has led to me having a beautiful yard, a productive garden, and a great way to reduce stress in my life.

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So for those who say that they don?t have time to garden, I say yes. It is a lot of work. It is a time commitment. But it?s a great way to bring beauty and relaxation to the stressful world we live in.

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Daniel Novak is a writer and lifelong learner. He maintains a vegetable garden and several flower beds and is always looking for new ways to add plants to his home. Because of this, he has a shameful amount of indoor and outdoor plant stands.

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Photo provided courtesy of Daniel Novak.

Source: http://www.mnn.com/home-blog/guest-columnist/blogs/my-journey-to-a-peaceful-garden

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