About Louise
My first houseplant was given to me as an infant by my mother. On my window sill, she placed a small cactus drawing my eye to the green world beyond. My earliest, happiest memories are of running free outside, of hiding under branches, and imagining that I lived outside always. I have loved plants my whole life and in return they seem to love me.
I started gardening as a child, and always managed to bring a potted plant along with me when I moved. A long-time city dweller, sometimes my garden existed on window ledges and fire escapes. Houseplants, essential for urban people, have always been part of my game. And I will forever love a town garden, a calming green refuge within the heat and excitement of the city. Now, I also appreciate working on larger landscapes and the opportunities they provide to plant for wildlife and those who come after us.
Largely self-taught, I’ve studied with brilliant teachers at terrific institutions, namely the Barnes Horticulture Certificate Program and Chanticleer. In 2016, I started Louise Woodstock Gardens to share the therapeutic benefits of gardening and to encourage sustainable practices that help repair our relationships with the natural world – starting at home.
The restorative properties of being (and even more, working) in gardens are now well scientifically documented. A fully integrative mind-body practice, gardening deepens our intuitive and creative capacities and enhances our scientific knowledge. While very much a practice of the present, gardening also asks us to visualize the future. Humans evolved interacting with nature; our systems are designed for it. If you need more convincing, gardeners live longer, absorb more vitamin D, reduce their likelihood of dementia, release stress, absorb depression-combating bacteria, and benefit from regular exercise! Gardening improves one’s sense of self, building resiliency and satisfaction from hard work done. Working with friends and family in the garden strengthens our ties as we feel the uplift of joint enterprise. We are, after all, in this world together.
We have always been connected to the land and the plants and animals with whom we share it. Answer the universal call to nurture your place.
