Spiritual Gardens (2007)

Spiritual Gardens examines gardens that were created specifically for spiritual reasons; gardens where the people who use the garden and the people who work in the garden gain far more than just the experience of creating a beautiful or bountiful place. They are taken to a space where they undergo a metamorphosis that leaves them spiritually changed just by spending time in the garden. The series looks at how the originators and gardeners went about creating these special places. The thought processes behind the gardens; the choice of plants and the affect of the layout. Viewers will see how the design transforms not just the gardener but the people who use the gardens as places of rest, relaxation and mental and spiritual growth. We look at what makes the gardens work, what makes the garden outlast its creators and what the gardeners derived from the simple act of creating the gardens. Most of all, we try to find out why the gardens were created, what the creators hoped to get from it and the qualities of human nature that find expression and fulfillment in the place and activity of gardening.