The Sanctuary Garden: Creating a Place of Refuge in Your Yard or Garden (Paperback)

~ Christopher For Mcdowell (Author), Tricia Clark-mcdowell (Author) "There is a theology to gardening that few of us consider, but to understand this theology means relinquishing much control-our arsenal of books, techniques, tools,..." (more)
Key Phrases: sanctuary garden, entrance threshold, outer garden, Thomas Moore, Cortesia Sanctuary, Feng Shui (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For many gardeners, gardening is a moving meditation that brings peace and deep relaxation. At times, however, repetitive chores can feel more stressful than soothing. The authors of The Sanctuary Garden remind us that being in the garden (as opposed to active gardening) is a way to honor the intrinsic relatedness of people and plants. To help us get beyond our busyness, they identify seven key design elements that can turn a garden into a living retreat or sanctuary. A special entrance marks our departure from the mundane world. Water, the symbol of life, brings flow and reflection to the garden. The thoughtful use of color and the play of light can be contrived to deliberately evoke emotions--peace, comfort, awe, and respect. Natural features like sculptural rocks, wind song, and fragrance can become focal points for our attention. Artwork that supports the desired feelings can be integrated into our plantings. Finally, we can create attractive habitat for birds, pollinators, and animals. Sharing the garden with nature--not just plants--broadens our sense of connectedness to the natural world in a wholesome, healing way. The book creates a challenge: where is your sanctuary? Answering that may expand both your garden and your spirit. --Ann Lovejoy

Product Description

Use the power of nature to find peace in your own backyard and enrich your life.

A garden can be far more than a place to plant a row of zinnias or tomatoes -- it can be a place of sanctuary. With the help of The Sanctuary Garden you can make your own yard or garden a place of serenity, peacefulness, and beauty. No matter how large or small your garden is, it can provide a sense of safety and comfort. And through a deep relationship with nature based on intention, reflection, and contemplation, each of us can gather strength, and our spirits may be renewed.

Ask most gardeners what gardening is and they are likely to tell you that it is primarily about plants -- which ones to select, grow, propagate, and nurture. But as you will discover in this book, the seven design elements of a sanctuary garden speak less about vegetation than they do about other often overlooked considerations such as:

• Creating a special entrance that invites the visitor into a sense of sanctuary
• Effectively using water for its psychological, spiritual, and physical effects
• Creatively using color and lighting to elicit emotion, comfort, and awe in the visitor
• Creating sitting areas that enfold the visitor into the sanctuary experience by providing a place of rest for body and soul
• Highlighting natural features as anchor points, including the use of rocks, wood, natural fences, screens, trellises, wind, and sound to evoke emotion
• Integrating art that enhances the overall mood
• Providing habitat and features to attract a diversity of wildlife to share your sanctuary

Illustrated with eight radiant full-page watercolors and hand-drawn illustrations, The Sanctuary Garden: Creating a Place of Refuge in Your Yard or Garden offers a unique guide to living your life and designing your garden with purpose, contemplation, and, above all, harmony.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Fireside (May 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684846373
• ISBN-13: 978-0684846378
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #238,918 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a unique, deeply spiritual, inspired work., June 4, 1999

By A Customer

Almost a "garden as metaphor," book, you won't find concrete advide about how to plant, or what to do about pests, etc. You will find an inspired pathway to spirit via the garden. The authors write with a clear, poetic voice about earth, wind, water and sunlight as manifestations of the soul. As an avid gardener, this is one of my all time favorites! It would make a terrific gift for anyone interested in the natural/spiritual worlds.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy this book if you're looking for sample ideas, August 31, 2002

By	mj (Silicon Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I bought this book from a different web retailer because of the online description; I did not see it in the store first. If I had, I wouldn't have bought it, because it is a philosophy book about gardening. I tend to buy gardening books that have lots of photos or diagrams of examples. This book has no photos and only a few drawings. It is all text. If you are a "show me" kind of person like I am, then don't buy this book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful sense of the art of creating "peace" around us!, July 19, 1999

By A Customer

This is a wonderful book! It is very inspiring, and the ideas are easy to follow, understand, and adapt to your own space and needs. I loved the descriptions of their garden/sanctuary at their home, and am inspired to try to create some sacred space in my own life. Thank you for a truly fantastic book!