Gardens & Soul

Sanctuaries for the Soul. A background in art, meditation and a quest for spirituality in nature is my approach to designing gardens.  Gardens are sanctuaries for people’s souls.  Our inner spirit longs for  beauty, joy, peace and healing.  Gardens bring those qualities to life for those who spend time in the presence of a garden.  They are also places where people can fully experience life through transcendence experiences.

Move down the Mississippi. It wasn’t until a move to St. Louis in 1991 from the tundra of Minnesota, that I could really garden with a passion.  Within a year of living in zone 6 instead of 4, a garden design business named Creveling Gardens was born.

Design. I created a design process called The Complete Creative Process™ that has five steps to help people discover their inner landscape of dreams, hopes and desires and match that with the outer landscape of their garden.

Writing. I began to write about “the big picture” of how gardens enhance body, mind and spirit in monthly columns in The Healthy Planet.  In 2009 I became the editor of this monthly publication’s Green & Growing, A Voice for Sustainable Gardens, Landscapes & Homes section.  I now also write about gardening sustainably for Missouri Gardener in the Conscientious Gardener section.

How it all started. I learned to garden from my mother at our city home, and from my grandmother at her dairy farm.  I grew gardens in almost every apartment and home I lived in.  Until the move south I never considered gardening as a professional option, even though it was a passion for as long as I can remember. Fortunately in the move down the Mississippi to St. Louis, I have been able to combine my love of art, meditation and gardens into a profession creating gardens for the soul for others.