Therapeutic Gardens
Gardening isn't just about producing lavender and cut flowers. It's also about peace. Everyone needs a private sanctuary. A place to be silent, safe and nurtured. A place to experience divine spirit. This divine expression can be found, accessed and focused through the creation of private and public sacred spaces. We can experience the sacred by visiting existing sacred sites or by creating new ones.
In the externally-focused fast pace of modern western society, we need more than ever to infuse our environment with sacred stopping places. These places remind us of the driving spiritual energy that surrounds and nourishes our souls.
The most important aspect of anything sacred is intention. Since energy follows intention, any sacred space we intentionally create is imbued with spiritual (divine) energy. From conception, it is alive and you become like a mother, providing the necessary support and labor.
Specialty gardens are designed by Laurie Charpentier through Max's Farm. The following are just a few of the specialty and therapeutic gardens that can be designed:
Enabling Garden
Garden designed to enable people with emotional, physical or behavioral disabilities or limitations to spend time in and around plants. Raised beds (for wheelchair access), ergonomics and other considerations are used in the design of this type of garden.
Alzheimers Garden
Garden designed especially for those individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Garden elements depend on the stage and severity of the disease and will include a path that is oval or circular with familiar landmarks designed to orient the client. It also includes non-toxic plants, places to sit and elements for comfort and stimulation of memory.
Memorial Garden
Very personal garden design intended to serve as a memorial for one or more loved ones. Favorite plants, statues or special trees or stones are used to make the space a sacred place to commune with and remember the deceased.
Healing Garden
Healing gardens are created to be either emotionally healing with sacred elements, meaningful flowers, etc., or physically healing when medicinal herbs are used as an apothecary. Of course, both may be incorporated into one design as intention is the guiding hand when designing any specialty garden.
Unity Garden
This type of garden is especially useful when the intent is to bring people or ideas together. We created our own unity garden for our backyard wedding years ago. Each guest was asked to bring a perennial flower or shrub in lieu of traditional gifts or cards and each plant was incorporated into a unity garden that we planted together after the wedding. We created a blended family with our union and bought each of our (four) children a different tree which was planted on the outside four corners of the garden.