Gardens provide us with chancel from the outside world and its stresses . A garden is a healing distance , as the simple act of being in a garden makes us feel in force . Reducing strain and anxiousness improves genial and physical health . Taking the healing prop of garden one whole step further , a therapeutic garden is a garden with the function of providing healing and comfort in a specific blank to specific people . Therapeutic garden can execute the gamut from hospital gardens to garden at older living installation to schoolhouse garden that help children with special need . How golden we are in Southern California that we can enjoy our gardens twelvemonth - pear-shaped . Therefore , we have a immense spectrum of plant to prefer from for a therapeutic garden . To specify the field , you would first determine the needs of the people it would be serving . Some significant characteristics I would see for would be scent , grain , and attracting wildlife .
‘Munstead’ lavender
‘ Munstead ’ lavender ( Lavandula angustifolia‘Munstead ’ , Zones 5–8 ) would be at the top of my list for most any therapeutic garden . Who can resist sliding a hand along a length of velvety leaves and then inhaling that infamous rash fragrance ? ‘ Munstead ’ is also quite elegant , with a soothe grey cast to the folio . As with all lavender , it will draw in bees , butterflies , and hummingbirds to the garden . Lavender is incredibly well-to-do to grow but can also be finicky . You might plant three side by side , and it would not be unusual for one to just up and fail while the other two thrive . However , you could easily plant another and it would soon catch up with up to the others , as lavender is quite fast growing .
Lemon verbena
Lemon verbena ( Aloysia citrodora , Zones 8–10 ) is a perennial shrub that likes full Sunday in coastal areas and partial Sunday in hotter inland areas . It prefer well - draining soil and needs very lilliputian weewee . aboriginal to South America , it grows to 6 feet in height but will get leggy , so it ’s best to prune it . ( It can take arduous pruning . ) The pointed leaves are rough in texture and emit a powerful lemon scent when crush , as anything usually does that ’s labeled with the wordcitrodora . When dried in herbaceous plant sachet , the leaves get a wonderfully solace odor .
Fragrant pitcher sage
Fragrant pitcher sage ( Lepechinia fragrans , Zones 9–10 ) is one of my favorite plant and is native to our region . This is an evergreen herbaceous bush that abide sun and a fair amount of shade as well as most soils . A cultivar called ‘ El Tigre ’ from Santa Cruz Island is probably the most widely available in the trade . The flowers on ‘ El Tigre ’ are more deeply colored than those of the species .
One coarse characteristic of a therapeutic garden is its wrap notion , which reach you feel safe from the outside world . One room to create enclosure is with hedges . A honest choice for a hedge is toyon ( Heteromeles arbutifolia , Zones 7–11 ) . This evergreen plant bush is native to much of California and brook a wide range of grease and sunshine exposure . In winter the berries are prominent and draw hoot . Any plant that can pull in wildlife into the garden is beneficial to the life .
— Francesca Corra , APLD , is a across the nation certify landscape room decorator and proprietor of Dirt Diva Designs in Studio City , California .
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The aromatic, textured, and butterfly-attracting qualities of ‘Munstead’ lavender make it the perfect choice for a therapeutic garden.Photo: Michelle Gervais
‘Munstead’ lavender (Lavendula angustifolia‘Munstead’, Zones 5–8) has darker flowers than many lavenders but is just as fragrant.Photo: Michelle Gervais
Lemon verbena produces a powerful citrusy scent.Photo: Francesca Corra
Fragrant pitcher sage has soft, fuzzy, fragrant leaves with lovely wide-mouthed flowers that are attractive to hummingbirds.Photo: Francesca Corra
Toyon creates an evergreen hedge with bushels of bright red berries. ‘Davis Gold’ toyon (Heteromeles arbutifoliavar.carina‘Davis Gold’, Zones 7–11) produces yellow berries instead.Photos: Francesca Corra
