All the world’s problems can be solved in a garden

Image: An outside lounge in the backyard of Oregon-based landscape architect Jeffrey Bale. Note the stone mosaic work on the ground. Photo by Allan Mandell from The NY Times.

I’ve been constantly coming back to Geoff Lawton‘s quote since I heard it in Establishing a Food Forest. It so beautifully sums up my philosophy on plants and gardening. While it was the unofficial motto of 2009, let it here be ordained that this year it shall be my main motivator.

To kick off 2010 in good measure,  I need to get myself correct – last year was an appalling one as far as my health is concerned, with tragic turns of events and generally unfortunate circumstances. So I’ve put quite a bit of time these holidays into getting healthier and making sure I stay that way.  And so I wanted to work out how the ‘All the world’s problems can be solved in a garden’ quote could really apply to me right here and now.

I’ve been reading Malcolm Harker‘s Health and Healing Lifestyle Manual, which has provided me with a very good answer of how to incorporate the view of the garden into my own personal wellness. Harker talks about the eight most important ‘doctors’:

1. Pure oxygen-rich, nutrient-dense water and foods

2. Sunlight and fresh air

3. Love and laughter

4. Appropriate exercise

5. Bare contact with the earth and elements

6. Firm breathing

7. Relaxation: meditation, music and sound sleep

8. Being at peace with oneself and in harmony with the environment

To me, gardening  encompasses all of this and so these will be my personal healers for 2010. I will keep these firmly in mind and commit to them as often as possible too make sure my I’m in sound shape to face the world. I’m sure this will be a really good insurance policy so that I don’t burn out while working on my many other projects.

Here’s to a wonderful, healthy and vibrant 2010!

For more beautiful garden design visit Jeffrey Bale’s website.