The Essentials of a Sanctuary Garden

"The simple fact that so many people are asking for meditation and restorative gardens now is a sign that people need a sanctuary," says Linda Wiggen Kraft, who's been designing restorative gardens for more than 20 years in St. Louis. "People are discovering that they need to bring balance, wholeness and serenity into their lives, and a garden is one of the best ways do that."

So how do you turn your backyard into a lush oasis of quiet contemplation? Here, ideas from the top experts on how to create a deeply personal restorative retreat.

Case in point: In designing an award-winning garden for an estate in central Virginia, Rockwell took as her inspiration a venerable gum tree (Nyssa sylvatica) with an 80-foot canopy. Known by the homeowners as the cosmic tree, it became a focal point for a series of circular gravel paths — perfect for walking meditation — and curved stone walls that mimic both the topography of the Piedmont land and the foundation of the home.

Do you have climbing vines? A terraced hill? A rock wall? A view? Figure out ways to highlight those features and make them "places of rest and visual meditation," says Sarah Susanka, co-author with Julie Messervy, of Outside the Not-So-Big House. If you're starting from scratch and don't have trees or structures to work with, Susanka suggests visiting a stone yard and picking out a boulder you like, or "borrowing" a view from your neighbors. If your property looks out on nearby gardens or is edged by woods or fields, position a bench where you can enjoy the vista and sense of space.

You might remember a clearing in the woods where you lay for hours watching butterflies or a hilltop you climbed to see the view. Either could serve as the inspiration for a contemplative space that would evoke those deeply rooted memories. Sometimes the childhood link can be quite explicit: For a client who grew up in Japan and was nostalgic for Mt. Fuji, Kraft designed a miniature mountain with crushed marble on top for snow.