CREATING A SANCTUARY IN YOUR GARDEN

Tapping into your spiritual side can help transform your garden into a haven of peace away from the stresses of modern life

The spiritual side of gardening is on the rise. It’s a striking change from the early 2000s when I started designing gardens and estates – then the most common reaction to any talk of sacred spaces would have been a raised eyebrow. But times are changing. Spiritual practices, such as yoga and meditation, have become part of our everyday lives, and their increased popularity has perhaps freed us to explore our inner selves. This self awareness, combined with an increased knowledge of the fragility of our ecosystems, has encouraged many to search for a spiritual connection not just to where they live, but to how they live. Happily, this need to connect is seeping into our approach towards garden design. We are beginning to recognise the sacredness of our need to care for, and be close to, the land.

Of course, none of this is new. Since our ancestors placed the first standing stones, we have been marking out our connections with the natural world and trying to tap into the meaning of our entwined energies. From Stonehenge through to the serene gardens at Rousham, we have expressed our wonder at nature and created spiritual places of worship and retreat. So strong has been the pull of the sacred that many pagan sites were later adopted by the early Christian church and in Renaissance Italy, the revival of Platoism spawned classically inspired statues venerating the essence of nature.

NATURAL CONNECTIONS

The most spiritual of places are often those created by nature itself. Anyone who has ever visited Wistman’s Wood on Dartmoor will have felt the tingle of otherworldliness among the twisted trunks and moss-covered boulders of this ancient oak woodland. Also in Devon, the artist Peter Randall-Page has made an extraordinary series of installations that create points of sacred reflection on nature’s energy and our part in it. Granite Song is one such piece. It sits on an island beside a public footpath and stops you in its tracks with its sheer beauty and delight.

Perhaps, now more than ever, in our increasingly noisy and digitally curated world, we all need space for sanctuary;

THE JAPANESE HAVE A GARDEN CONCEPT THEY CALL MIEGAKURE, WHICH ROUGHLY TRANSLATES AS ‘HIDE AND REVEAL’

Consider creating an area where you can escape for some quiet time. This tree house – used by adults and children – is an ideal hideaway. This garden includes a yoga studio tucked away in a grove of mature trees. The journey from the house offers time for reflection among nature. A labyrinth made of seven spirals to denote the seven chakras, is an easy way to include a space within your garden for a walking meditation. It can be a simple mown lawn or, as here, a stone path. A hidden space within a curved hedge is central to the Japanese concept of miegakure, in which a sanctuary garden is gradually revealed as you move through the garden. This secluded dome offers a space in which to connect with nature. It's made from willow, which will continue to grow. Plant as whips in winter or early spring.

Scent plays an important role in intensifying our experience – think of the aroma of incense burned in a church or the relaxing powers of aromatherapy oils. In this garden a pergola covered in fragrant climbers brings the sense of smell into play in a natural setting.