Health and healing
Every gardener knows from experience how therapeutic gardening
really is. We dig for hours and feel rejuvenated even while we are tired
and dirty.
Karen York's background as a certified horticulturist, botanical editor
and writer, as well as her on-going training in horticultural therapy,
provides the basis of knowledge for this well written book on the healing
aspect of gardening.
There are chapters on organic gardening, herbs, the importance of trees,
water in the garden, naturalization, growing good food, gardening for
the senses, and rooftop gardening. The final chapter, The Healthy Gardener,
emphasizes the therapeutic effect of gardening as a stress reliever,
a way to work through grief, to improve physical and mental health.
Throughout the book, she emphasizes the message that at the same time
we nurture the landscape we nourish ourselves.
"Whatever form it takes, the healing garden affords us the opportunity
to gaze inward and outward in an intimate communion that renews us physically,
emotionally and psychologically. By gaining a deeper understanding of
nature's infinitely wondrous workings, we can draw on that healing power
to restore balance and harmony in ourselves and to the earth."
(pg. 15)
This is a book that offers something for everyone interested in gardening.
The Holistic Garden will become an important resource for health care
practitioners who use gardening as therapy for their patients. At the
same time the home gardener is provided with practical information and
advise that will help them build their own garden sanctuary.
http://www.gardenscape.ca/pages/BKHolistic.htm