Why We Need Gardens

The Wise Words of Oliver Sacks

“As a writer, I find gardens essential to the creative process; as a physician, I take my patients to gardens whenever possible.

-Oliver Sacks

Oliver Sacks at the New York Botanical Garden. (Photograph by Bill Hayes from How New York Breaks Your Heart.)

Being in nature is essential to our wellbeing. The calming effect of the natural world is powerful. It is for this reason that I am such a believer in gardens and garden making - we need to revel in nature’s bounty. That is why I share ideas about garden design with you. Plants, birds, sky, water, sun all work in concert to make us whole. I look to the British neurologist and writer, Oliver Sacks, for his guidance in this matter:

“ In forty years of medical practice, I have found only two types of non-pharmaceutical “therapy” to be vitally important for patients with chronic neurological diseases: music and gardens.” - Oliver Sacks

“… Hortophilia, the desire to interact with, manage, and tend nature, is also deeply instilled in us. The role that nature plays in health and healing becomes even more critical for people working long days in windowless offices, for those living in city neighborhoods without access to green spaces, for children in city schools, or for those in institutional settings such as nursing homes. The effects of nature’s qualities on health are not only spiritual and emotional but physical and neurological. I have no doubt that they reflect deep changes in the brain’s physiology, and perhaps even its structure.”

From Everything in its Place by Oliver Sacks

Oliver Sacks and Kate Edgar at Longwood Gardens’ conservatory. Image: Oliver Sacks Foundation Facebook page

In his book of essays, From Everything in its Place, Sacks wrote about his time working at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx and how he would take his patients to the nearby New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) to experience the serenity he found in nature. In his chapter called, “Why We Need Gardens,” he wrote about the therapeutic value of gardens and plants:

“ I cannot say exactly how nature exerts its calming and organizing effects on our brains, but I have seen in my patients the restorative and healing powers of nature and gardens, even for those who are deeply disabled neurologically. In many cases, gardens and nature are more powerful than any medication.”

peace and serenity

Sacks loved ferns and primitive plants since his childhood days. He called them ‘Jurassic’ plants and marveled at their ability to survive and adapt. He authored Oaxaca Journal, which detailed a fern-hunting trip he made to Mexico with members of the American Fern Society.

The magnificent ‘Ghost’ Japanese painted fern.

“Ferns delighted me with their curlicues, their croziers, …But at a deeper level, they filled me with wonder because they were of such ancient origin… My sense of a prehistoric world, of immense spans of time, was first stimulated by ferns and fossil ferns.” - Oaxaca Journal

Oliver Sacks was awarded the NYBG gold medal in 2011. It is the highest honor that can be conferred by the Garden. It recognizes individuals who have made remarkable contributions to botany, horticulture, or science education. I think Sacks did that and more. For more on the great Oliver Sacks go here:

https://www.oliversacks.com/

Thank you for following Gardentopia! I share my love of all things green with you and hope to hear from you. Stay tuned for more garden info and musings.