Think Gardens Are Just For Flowers? 6 Things You Can Learn From Your Garden

by Jenny Banks

You can learn a lot from your garden. Not just what plants grow well, or which ones do better in the shade. Real, honest-to-goodness lessons can be learned from your garden. If you're wondering what you could possibly learn about life from the gardens in your yard, take a look. Here are four important lessons you can learn just by planting a garden.

Failure Isn't Fatal

For the most part, humans have a belief that there's no room for failure. However, when you step into a garden, you find out that failure isn't always a fatal event. You plant something and it doesn't thrive. Or, you choose a design that you end up not liking. It's not the end of your garden. You choose a new plant, or you redesign the garden. Sometimes the most beautiful gardens grow from mistakes.

It's Okay to Experiment

Step into a garden and you realize that it's okay to experiment. You experiment with different types of flowers. You mix colors and textures. You might even add a water feature where you didn't think one would go. Experimentation breeds growth and creativity. You learn that in a garden.

It's Okay to Get Closed in Sometimes

When you think of enclosed spaces, you probably don't think of outdoors or gardens. However, when you plant a garden in your screen enclosed patio, you learn that closed-in spaces are good sometimes. Go ahead, fill your screen enclosed patio with lots of potted plants. You can grow a colorful container garden on any size patio, even if you live in the middle of the city. A company like Scott's Screens can help with this kind of patio.

Death Creates Space for Growth

You put all your energy into your garden and a plant still dies. You may mourn the loss of your plant. That's okay. However, you can learn a lesson from a dead plant. Death creates space for new growth. Learn from the loss and spread out.

It's okay To Embrace Emotions

Sit in a garden long enough and you'll find reasons to rejoice and feel sadness all at the same time. You may get excited to see a bird foraging for food, only to discover that part of its leg has been injured. Take the time to embrace both emotions. Just because something is sad doesn't mean there isn't beauty, as well.

Mystery Is Part of the Fun

Have you ever planted a garden and discovered something new growing in it? Where did it come from, if you didn't plant it? The mystery is part of the fun. Perhaps the wind carried a seed into your garden. The seeds could have been brought into your yard through bird droppings. Life is full of mysteries. You can learn to enjoy them by sitting in a garden.

Gardens are more than just carefully planned areas in your yard. They're a chance to learn lessons you can use in life. Go ahead. Plant some gardens and enjoy the experience.

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