Wondering How to Find Peace? Spend Time in a Garden!

We all want to enjoy our lives, especially in our “golden years.” So how do we step outside the chaos and add more peace and joy to our days? By spending time in a garden!

Doesn’t it feel like the world we live in constantly bombards us with negativity? We can try to avoid the media. But just going about daily life seems to be getting more and more stressful. High prices, angry drivers, navigating ever-changing technology… The list of things that can add fear, anxiety, and frustration to our lives is never ending.

There are many things you can do to find some calm in the storm. But one of the quickest ways we’ve found is to spend time in a garden.

We were not the first to figure this out!

Check out these wise quotes on the subject:

• “Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine for the soul.” — Luther Burbank
• “How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence.” — Benjamin Disraeli
• “If we could see the miracle of a single flower, clearly our whole life would change.” — Gautama Buddha
• “The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.” — George Bernard Shaw
• “I was just sittin’ here enjoyin’ the company. Plants got a lot to say, if you take the time to listen.” — Eeyore

However you express it, there is something truly magical about spending time in a garden.

You may walk in with the cares of the world on your shoulders, but force yourself to linger a while. Look closely at the tiniest flowers and marvel at how intricately they are formed. Listen for the sounds of the birds, the buzzing bees, the wind in the trees. Smell the fresh scents in the air. Just sit. Let it all wash over you. I can almost guarantee you will leave the garden feeling better than when you came.

Do this regularly, and you might see a change in the way you feel overall. According to this article from the University of Minnesota, spending time in nature doesn’t just affect us emotionally. It also has a profound impact on our physical well-being. All by just enjoying the beauty of a garden.

Not everyone has the time or desire to create their own garden oasis.

We both grew up surrounded by gardeners. In fact, when we were kids almost everyone had a backyard vegetable patch. Or grew flowers in their borders. Our dad cultivated the back third of our yard into long rows of veggies – where my sisters and I hated pulling the weeds! Bob remembers his father growing flowers as a hobby after he retired. He combined that with his love of photography and took pictures of the beautiful blooms.

Maybe it was the weed picking (or the lawn mowing and dandelion pulling for Bob), or maybe we just got busy working and raising our family, but we didn’t try our hand at growing things until fairly recently. And I’m not gonna lie – it takes a lot of time and hard work to garden.

If you’re not able to / don’t want to make that kind of investment in your own garden, there is probably a public garden you can enjoy nearby.

The pictures on this post are from the historic Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, Florida. We took a little day trip there recently to attend a gardening seminar. After the class, we spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering the paths among the amazing plants and trees.

A quick search on the American Public Gardens Association website showed several public gardens within a two hour drive of our home, many of which we didn’t know about. The American Horticultural Society also has a garden locator on their site. In addition, many colleges and universities have an arboretum or botanical garden that is open to the public.

If you can’t find a public garden near you, take a leisurely stroll through a local plant nursery or garden center. In addition to the therapeutic benefits, it’s a great place to pick up some tips and advice for your own garden, either from the employees or from other customers you strike up a conversation with.

Wherever you choose to wander, time among the trees, plants, and flowers can refresh you and lift you up.

Spending time in a garden is something everyone can enjoy and benefit from. You could even bring a good book to read while you’re there!

What about you? Tell us about a garden you have visited. Or your garden memories. Are you an active gardener now? We’d love to hear about what spending time in a garden does for you!