For many of us and and our loved ones, March has been punctuated by international conflicts and frightful world news. Thankfully, nature is respite. Despite humanity’s conflicts, this month, in our forests and gardens, nature continues to bring warm yellow sunrises, flowering fruit trees in the afternoon, and moonlit evenings. The gardens momentarily shield us from the chatter of work pressure and overwhelming world events. I’m grateful for the ever-flowing peace plants offer in times of grief, anxiety, and confusion. Even neuroscience studies confirm our brains relax when we gaze at grand tree canopies overhead, slowly walk barefoot through a garden, or breathe in sweet floral aromas.
In this article, I also share excerpts from the Serene Garden from my book,Inflourish: Cebu Garden Designs. I hope this inspires you to briefly escape your phone apps. March in the garden to mellow out. Spend a peaceful day in nature or go build your own version of the Serene Garden.
In the Serene Garden design below, you can lounge amongst raised beds filled with bountiful Citrus trees, flowering Kamuning, Orchids, and other gorgeous greenery. This design can be installed on a backyard deck, roof space or patio. Beyond the greenery, a small relaxing pond is adorned with horsetail reeds and gabi. This garden elegantly combines edible vegetation with living décor. Apart from lounging, you can harvest of seasonal Limes and Limonsito. Or pick a romantic bouquet of Saging-saging flowers, fern leaves, and Kamuning blossoms to brighten someone’s day.
Serene Garden design with detailed plant maps below.
Ginger is commonly known as a popular spice in delicious dishes like Kinilaw and drinks like Salabat. But for gardeners, landscape designers, and tropical plant enthusiasts, gingers encompass diverse plants from botanical families like Zingiberaceae and Costaceae. Gingers and their relatives can be striking features in Cebu’s potted gardens and footpath borders. You can grow gingers in lush, dense groups along a path. Gingers can grow from 3 to 6 feet. Depending on how you prune them, the swaying stems and plump green leaves can shade walkways and soften garden edges.
Gingers’ foliage are bejeweled with stunning floral displays. Their multi-colored blossoms resemble painted pine cones, graceful orchids, butterfly wings, bromeliad spikes, and many more marvelous configurations. In the image below, you’ll see a gorgeous sample of native and naturalized ginger flowers found in Philippine’s forests and gardens.
The flowers above belong to: A) a spiral ginger called Insulin plant (Helliana speciosa); B) Adelmeria alpina; C) Vanoverberghia rubrobracteata; D) Etlingera fimbriobractea ; E) Alpinia haenkei ; F) Zingiber zerumbet; G) Adelmeria gigantifolia; and H) Turmeric (Curcuma longa).
Growing Gingers. Gingers can be planted from small pieces of their roots. These pieces or rhizome segments must have buds to successfully grow. In Healing Present, we usually plant them during the rainy season. You can start them in individual pots or raised beds. Once the seedlings have strong stems, you can transfer them to different parts of your garden. Some gardeners, without many pests, press the ginger pieces directly into the soil. The pieces are planted about 3 inches deep and at least 7 inches apart. I like to grow them in dense clumps so they make a bold visual impact when they grow taller. In general, gingers prefer Cebu’s humidity, partial shade and indirect light. For the best results, grow them in soil that drains well.
Below are different locations we planted ginger. Some gingers are in a shaded balcony or thriving under the canopy of a native cinnamon tree. Others are next to a garden wall that blocks direct sunlight. Other ginger relatives are in pots next to ponds. All these locations receive frequent rain or irrigation. They also block constant heat and direct sun exposure.
With pruning, gingers are pretty low-maintenance. Just remove any dead or damaged stems during they year. Those dead brown canes or stems make great additions to your compost. Here are a few more design tips to help you integrate an abundance of gingers in your garden:
A stairway in Healing Present’s farm lined with a variety of ginger relatives like insulin plants, turmeric, and ginger lilies. The parallel islands of ginger are complemented with ferns and Saging-saging (canna lilies). Complement your ginger islands with moisture-loving accents like ferns, lilies, and ornamental bananas.
Don’t add a thin line or skinny row of plants along your walkway. Add wide bands or clusters of gingers. With regular, moist conditions gingers can grow to 4 feet or more in width. So it won’t take long to grow a wealth of ginger. Wider groups of gingers add verdant impact and visual harmony.
Since gingers love partial shade, consider adding them to a shaded path. In Healing Present’s farm, we frequently decorate a path with a passionfruit pergola overhead. Then, we plant gingers on both sides of the the stepping stones.
Hope this inspires you to beautify your garden paths with some gorgeous ginger additions!
First image of ginger flowers courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Co’s Digital Flora of the Philippines.
As a child, it felt magical to play in a treehouse, feel closer to the sky, and capture a bird’s eye view. I was overjoyed and curious. Treehouses and tree decks are some of the best settings for imaginative play, relaxation, and daily connection with nature. Today, I’ll share some fun ideas for gardens that enhance treehouses and tree decks. The inspiration can enrich a treehouse or deck in a backyard, community garden, or a local school. Feel free to incorporate these planting combinations into personal projects or share them with community members looking to improve a treetop design.
A treehouse adorned with a succulent greenroof above borders of floral shrubs, colorful foliage, and aromatic groundcovers.
Vibrant Foliage & Flowers. Planting floral and foliar color are beautiful ways attract interest and highlight your treetop structure. You can concentrate on particular color combination, motif, floral scent, or educational theme to help determine your plant palette. Or you can select plants based on particular height and space requirements. With this criteria, floral groundcovers, shrubs, and a few trees may suit your site. With cozier spaces, potted plants, epiphytes, and vines are preferable.
Or get creative! Add add a shallow raised bed of flowering succulents on the rooftop of your treehouse. Or add a succulent border or raised boxes on the perimeter of your tree deck. If your site is larger it space, add additional flowering fruit trees. And don’t forget colorful shrubs as an option. San franciscos (Codiaeum spp.), Mais-mais (Dracaena spp.), cordyline lilies (Cordyline spp.), and Mayana (Coleus spp.) pop with deep maroons, golds, hot pinks, and other rich hues. Remember to observe your site’s soil conditions and sun exposure to further refine your plant selection. Here are some vibrant floral exemplars that grow well in my area:
Waling Waling orchid (Vanda sanderiana)
Philippine ground orchid (Spathoglottis plicata)
Rose Mallow shrub (Hibiscus moscheutos)
Sampaguita shrub (Jasminum sambac)
Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia spp.)
Heliconia spp.
Torch ginger (Etlingera elatior)
Ylang Ylang tree (Cananga odorata)
Siar tree (Peltophorum pterocarpum)
Narra tree (Pterocarpus indicus)
Malapapaya tree (Polyscias nodosa)
Bani tree (Milletia pinnata)
Binunga tree (Macaranga tanarius)
A tree deck supported by an old Acacia surrounded by big-leafed, shade-loving plants and ferns. The Acacia is also adorned with vines and fern epiphytes.
Trees with Shade-loving accents. Adding trees with shade accents can also enrich your tree house or tree deck. In time, this combination will turn into a shady, cool respite from the heat. Your shade-loving accent can be big-leaved gabi, palmettos, Colocosia spp., monsteras, and ferns while the native trees can have sprawling crowns, graceful palm leaves, compact treetops, and/or seasonally produce fruit. Other tree species could be Alibangbang (Bauhinia malabarica), native bamboos, Panalipan (Diospyros tenuipes), and Maritima (Vatica maritima). Alternatively, you can focus on adding compact fruit trees or larger fruit trees like native figs like Dakit, Lagnob, and other Ficus spp. Other suitable fruit-bearing choices could be Banana varieties, Avocado, Nangka, and Balimbing.
A field of heliconias and birds of paradise with a background of fruit tree accents leading to a treehouse.
Trees that can support Houses or Decks. Most of this article focusses on enhancing an existing treehouse or deck with a surrounding garden. If you need advice for the right tree to support a new treehouse or tree deck, ask an engineer, experienced builder, or treehouse designer.
There many ways to build a treehouse. Sometimes the entire structure is attached to the tree. Others build structures with no weight on the tree. Additionally, builders incorporate gaps in the platform and roof so the tree can grow through the house and deck. In my experience, treehouses are made with healthy, mature, multi-trunked hardwood trees. In Cebu, old Fig trees, old Mango trees, mature Yakal, Ipil, Lawaan, Narra, and Acacia are used in tree decks or treehouse projects.
Have fun creating and enjoy your future treetop adventures!
This March I’d like to share some garden designs that served as venues for different therapies. Some would classify this use of greenery and vegetation as horticultural therapy. Maybe these designs can inspire you to use beautiful, natural settings or backyard gardens to nurture your health goals and needs.
The therapy gardens in this article focused on supplementing hospital services. I envisioned a network of beautiful gardens designed for patient treatment and recovery. As part of a hospital’s holistic healthcare ministry, the garden-based therapy programs would support oncology, neuro-psychiatry, physical therapy, and rehabilitation medicine. The new gardens could also complement or serve as more spaces comprehensive counseling and hospice programs. Garden-based activities would facilitate the patient’s personal treatment goals. And depending on their condition, patients receive opportunities to participate in activities to address physical, cognitive, affective, psychomotor, and psychosocial functioning. In my particular project, the hospital’s Therapy Park programs supported novel, individualized treatment options that aimed to improve recovery rates, increase patient satisfaction, and upgrade standard care in the Psychiatric, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation, Oncology, and Hospice Care departments.
Be Open. Tailor these ideas to less specialized health goals like daily relaxation after work. Focus on simple landscapes like a medicinal tea garden, backyard prayer space, outdoor meditation nook, or mini exercise patio.
Patient Therapy Garden
In this example, the horticultural therapy garden would be restricted to patients and their medical advisers and therapists. The features are wide wheelchair-accessible paths. Shade trees are behind cushioned seating for patient comfort.
The garden also features wheelchair-accessible activity tables and elevated raised beds. The landscape could be adorned with colorful flowers, culturally–significant plants, beautiful flowering shrubs, and hypoallergenic greenery.
This type of garden could be a venue for a program like:
“Weekly Gardening with Acute Psychiatric Patients” – Patients participate in group horticultural activities while they build coping skills. The goals may be to improve social skills and creative self-expression. Patients may foster self-efficacy, confidence, and self-esteem.
A) Shade trees like talisay, fruit trees like balimbing or hardy, non-allergenic native trees with curved, cushioned seating; B) Circular elevated garden beds with wheelchair accessibility for patient activities like herb-planting, orchid cultivation, or bromeliad care; C) Colourful Native wildflower beds, lantana shrubs, hardy groundcovers with ferns; D) Durable benches with groundcovers, fern varieties, and local lily varieties
Meditation & Prayer Gardens
In this second example, meditation gardens would be outside hospital chapels. This design features an outdoor relaxation room. The area would be equipped with cushioned, recliner furniture while lush greenery and a calming pond elicit a serene ambiance.
This type of garden could be a venue for a program like: “Restore & Reflect with Cancer Patients” – Oncology patients learn garden-based meditation and relaxation. They practice breathing techniques to manage anxiety, feelings of isolation, and emotional distress. These are common conditions associated with a new cancer diagnosis and cancer therapies.
A) Calming pond with gabi varieties and other hardy semi-aquatic species next to altar and lily groundcover; B) Large ferns and irises with trellised vines like nito, camote, buyo, philodendron, passionfruit, or gabi-gabi; C) Bed of fragrant types like lemongrass and citronella; D) Comfortable recliner benches, ottomans, and outdoor rug
Gathering Spaces in Therapy Park
Other sections of the hospital’s landscape would have open access to the public or patients’ visitors on select days. When restricted access is required for patients’ therapies, the garden could be closed to the public. This example features lawns for Physical Therapy activities, wheelchair-accessible raised beds, ergonomic elevated planters, wide paths, and ramps.
This type of garden could be a venue for programs like:
• “Garden Exercise for Physical Therapy (PT)” – Patients learn specialized outdoor physical therapy (PT) techniques and gardening skills to support their standard PT program. The customized activities could increase muscle activity, increase joint flexibility, increase exercise frequency, increase strength and stamina, improve motor skills, and increase circulation.
• “Garden Journaling for Talk Therapy/ Group Counseling Patients“- Clients in mental health, substance abuse, grief, and family counseling programs could participate in semi-structured nature journaling activities. During these activities, patients could increase self-expression, decrease stress, and write about coping skills taught in indoor counseling sessions.
A) Shaded seating with vines and shrubs like calamansi and pandan; B) Walkway with large fragrant and floral gumamela varieties and camelia; C) flat lawn with low-maintenance grass and large shade tree like narra; D) Lounges and cafe tables to meet with family and friends or patient consultations and therapy activities; E) Elongated garden beds for patients’ herb, bulb, or shrub gardening; F) Wheelchair accessible garden beds for inclusive gardening and group activities; G) Slip-resistant flooring for optimal safety.
I hope you find some workable ideas for your personal health-focused garden. Who knows? Maybe connections to nature and greenery may support your holistic health journey.
Feel free to contact ask.inflourish@gmail.com for design or gardening questions.
If you need more inspiration, here are more examples of gardens focused on health and medicinal plants:
This September, I’ll share more design inspiration for
seasonal vegetable and fruit gardens,
outdoor learning gardens, and
medicinal/therapeutic landscapes.
Food gardens, outdoor classrooms, and therapeutic landscapes invite us to spend more time outside. I think expanding our outdoor connection is vital to growth and overall health.
I deeply understood this connection when I was studying my masters program. While I was studying oak forests for my masters program, I worked as a park guide and environmental educator for children and adults (Photo 1). At the same time, I regularly camped in the mountains with friends on the weekend. My outdoor recreation, work, and studies strengthened my environmental literacy. In addition, I regularly witnessed students, colleagues, and friends deepen their curiosity about nature. Through informal and formal outdoor educational activities, I also saw highschoolers and retirees:
re-invigorate their connection with community, and
take interest in environmental stewardship
Photo 1. As a garden educator, university students, alumni groups, and pre-schoolers attended my past garden/outdoor education programs.
As a parent, caregiver, or teacher, are you interested in developing an outdoor educational experience? How do you start?
One approach is to use a garden, nearby beach, or farm as a classroom. From that starting point, you can build engaging environmental activities and curricula. Below is a booklet with a few fun environmental games and nature-based learning activities you can adapt for your students or children.
I hope the booklet can inspire new ideas or enhance existing outdoor learning modules.
I know first-hand the powerful effect of outdoor education. In particular, I’ve seen the benefits of transforming a garden into a new learning space (Photo 1). Informal and formal academic learning in a garden, schoolyard, park, or beach can spark a new appreciation for natural wonders. It can deepen a child’s connection to their environmental heritage and history. It can solidify an adult’s calling to protect clean air, water and land resources.
With all these benefits to our well-being, I look forward to sharing more garden-education-inspiration for the rest of September.
