In this Take Good Care – I Want My Garden To Be Series, I’ll be sharing takeaway ideas to create the garden you’ve felt you really needed. (You’ve read the Intention series, yes?)

I define outdoor living spaces that Take Good Care as gardens where you are safe, seen, and soothed. These green scenes support you in making your self care a non-negotiable – where your self care habits and wellness-enhancing practices become integrated in the design – the “why” of change and beautification gets planted. These are spaces that combine thoughtful design, site planning and layout, plant choices, and furnishings with the power of intention, meaning, and purpose to foster your ability to take good care of you.

Nature has your back – just like you do for the people in your life. That’s why a space that restores you is a vital part of holistic wellness.

[bctt tweet=”Restorative garden living supports you – so you can continue taking good care of those around you. #thriveoutsidehealinside”]

There is a deep and profound reason we want a “slice of paradise” or the “oasis” – we need it to be physically, emotionally, mentally, socially and soulfully well. I’m talking the full-meal deal that enviro research has been proving since the early ‘80: lower blood pressure, mood elevation, stress redux, social and Divinity-connectedness.

So the question is, what do you want your garden to be?

I want my garden to be…

As I begin a collaboration with a client, I ask, “What is the outcome we designing for?”

This is not to be confused as a suggestion that designing a garden produces a product. A garden is never stand-still. Gardens are beautiful, dynamic, growing and evolving – just like the people who live in them.

Designing a restorative garden (slice-of-healing-paradise) is a process. It is your life, dreams, wishes expressed in and through your natural environment. It is a syncing you with nature and nature with you. And the best part of it all is that your perfectly rejuvenating outdoor space is written in your DNA and defined by your life and wellness style. A restorative garden design is fluid and moves and adapts with you as you evolve into your best sense of you.

But there is a quiet, harder-to-find longing behind this design process. A space can be practical and beautiful, but your intrinsic need for this garden that reflects your life – that reflects you – is rooted in a deeper question.

What living are you creating?

What fantasy are we zeroing in on? What is your vision of joyous daily living that we can bring to life? What is that thing we can unearth that will help you feel good, supported and nourished?

For me, at the glorious age of mid 40-something, I want two very clear things from my time in my outdoor living spaces:

1. A Do-not-Disturb (DND) zone

2. A Place to Be With (to dine, laugh, live well-er with family and friends) zone

Sound familiar? These are the two most-desired transformations people come to Red Bird looking to realize in their outdoor living spaces (and dare I say, their lifestyle and wellness living). You can dig that, can’t you? Makes sense. We want to fill up in a quiet and supporting space and we want to share in a beautiful, enlivening scene with those that we love and enjoy time with the most. Over the next few posts, we’ll cover what these two zones look like in practice and how you can cultivate them in your garden space as well.

Stop at nothing short of you.

Growing inside of these desires for my personal garden is also where I have found my personal mission lives. I long for my immediate, natural environment to reflect back to me: Take Good Care, Dear Annie Red Bird.

Whatever your desire may be, your outdoor living space can give you that. It can answer that whisper in your heart for more joy, more greatness. The garden that answers your heart’s call for restoration is a reflection of what you value and need from your life. That, my Red Bird friend, is worth cultivating. That is the heart of the garden matter.

Talk to me, friend.

What is it you’re desiring from your space? Are you too wanting to slip away to a DND zone?

What’s that longing that has been begging to see the light of day? A cozy space to sip your favorite bevvie and commune with the stars and friends?

Give it to me in pictures. Express it in metaphor. Share it with me in words. Let’s hear your Red Bird garden longings in the comments. (And isn’t it a delight to know you can have that?)