This backyard friendship garden has been placed right next to the patio for easy access all year long.
Fall has arrived here in Central Florida nearly a month ago and brought with it the much-needed drop in daily temperatures. Instead of the sauna temps of the '90s and high humidity, we are now enjoying lower humid days and temps in the '80s.
While the last year and a half have not been easy for any of us it has brought up the reality that we need each other more than we ever imagined. It was easy to overlook our friends when things were going well for us and we could go about our day without the thought or a care about any harm coming our way.
It was also easy to overlook the space around us that we call home. Whether we own or rent we all have a place we call ours. When you are leaving your job at the end of the day you tell everyone I'm going "home" now. When you go on a vacation you know you will return home feeling like you need another vacation to recover from the one you just took.
A friendship garden is a place to preserve memories of the ones that have a special meaning and place
in your life through a variety of plants and items.
A friendship garden is easy to start. Here are a few simple steps to help you get started off on the right foot.
Location
You can choose an indoor or outdoor location. It really is up to you and what you can afford or have time to devote to your garden. You want it to be easy to access and cultivate. If you make it too far away from where you normally would walk you'll soon lose interest and the garden will never get off the ground.
Invite Your Friends
So the obvious thing you will need to make this friendship garden work is friends!
Get out your list of names and addresses and send them a text or card in the mail inviting them to be a part of your friendship garden. You can send them something too and encourage them to join in the fun.
Start a garden journal and keep a good record of who you invited and who sent you something for your garden. When and where you placed it in the garden and if it is a plant write down the progress of growth. When did it first bloom? How long did the flowers last? What kind of care did each plant need and so on. Take photos and put them in your journal or if you know how to draw well enough to know what something is then by all means document your garden with your own personal touch.
If you would like to take part, just sign-up for my newsletter, here. Then you can send me an email letting me know you would like to take part in this fun project. Together we can encourage one another by cultivating our friendship and our garden at the same time!
Sending You Sunshine!
Marsha
Markets of Sunshine
