--- title: Spiritual Gardening description: "Melanie Jean Juneau discovered gardening is a wonderful way to connect with God and children, as well. She observes, \"gardening is a prayer when we are quiet and listening.\"" --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2015/06/04/spiritual-gardening#) # Spiritual Gardening Jun 4, 2015 9:30:41 AM  |  by [Melanie Jean Juneau](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/melanie-jean-juneau) ![](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/156187_442236705806022_100000590892096_1551936_888039502_n1.jpg) **Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden.  ** *Robert Brault* I always let my kids dig in the dirt with me, even if they pulled flowers instead of weeds. Now they all love gardening as much as I do. Gardening is a soothing balm for my spirit. I can sense the Spirit of God permeating nature. In fact, gardening is a prayer when we are quiet and listening. Perhaps most people also sense His life-giving presence in nature; that's why so many love the outdoors, even if they are not especially spiritual. As for us, we are blessed to live on seven acres by a creek. Much of it is still wild but I am slowly reclaiming more and more area, creating meandering gardens. **The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ***Genesis 2:15* Sometimes it occurs to me that I am fulfilling the edict from God to Adam and Eve to take care of the beautiful garden He had created on earth. ** “A tree gives glory to God by being a tree.** **For in being what God means it to be it is obeying Him.** **It “consents,” so to speak, to His creative love.** **It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God,** **and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree.”  Thomas Merton** **Little flower, but if I could understand what you are, root and all is all, I should know what God and man is**. *Tennyson* **The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.** *George Bernard Shaw* I have pruned back 20 feet of sumac and buckthorn that had become invasive near our lane, across from the house. After clearing away al the brush and cutting down the stumps I filled pails with soft white pine needles and spread them around as a free ground cover. Next I hauled rocks from  around our property and built low stone walls. After I  moved in some planters, I created a garden delight, opposite the house, beside our long driveway. [gss ids="85825,85824,85823,85822,85821"] **Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God. ** *Thomas Jefferson* **I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God, it would be in a garden at the cool of the day.** * F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace* **God almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.** * Francis Bacon* **Working in the garden gives me something beyond the enjoyment of the senses. It gives me a profound feeling of inner peace.** * Ruth Stout* **Almost any garden, if you see it at just the right moment, can be confused with paradise.** * Henry Mitchell* ***One is nearer God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth.** **by Dorothy Frances Gurney* *Copyright Melanie Jean Juneau, 2015* *Images by Melanie Jean Juneau. All rights reserved.* ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2015%2F06%2F04%2Fspiritual-gardening%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2015%2F06%2F04%2Fspiritual-gardening%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2015%2F06%2F04%2Fspiritual-gardening%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Spiritual%20Gardening) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2015%2F06%2F04%2Fspiritual-gardening%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2015%2F06%2F04%2Fspiritual-gardening%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Melanie Jean Juneau](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Melanie-Jean-Juneau.jpg) ### [Melanie Jean Juneau](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/melanie-jean-juneau) Melanie Jean Juneau is a mother of nine children who blogs at [joy of nine9](https://melaniejeanjuneau.wordpress.com/wp-admin/melaniejeanjuneau.wordpress.com.). Her writing is humorous and heart-warming; thoughtful and thought-provoking. Part of her call and her witness is to write the truth about children, family, marriage and the sacredness of life. Melanie is the administrator of [ACWB](http://associationofcatholicwomenbloggers.blogspot.ca/), the Editor in Chief at [CatholicLane](http://catholiclane.com/author/melanie-juneau/), [CatholicStand](http://catholicstand.com/author/melanie-jean-juneau/), [Catholic365](http://www.catholic365.com/author/melanie-jean-juneau/) , [CAPC](http://catholicap.com/author/melanie-jean-juneau/) & author of [Echoes of the Divine](https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/521798). ## Related Blog Articles [ A Gardening Book Even Beginners Can Use: A Catholic Gardener's Spiritual Almanac Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2015/04/08/a-gardening-book-even-beginners-can-use-a-catholic-gardeners-spiritual-almanac) [ The Garden of a Soul Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/the-garden-of-a-soul) [ Gardening Inspiration: Enter a Gardening Photo Contest Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2012/06/24/gardening-inspiration-enter-a-gardening-photo-contest) ## Comments ## Donate now [![Support Catholic Mom](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545) [![CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) ##### Subscribe to Catholic Momcast on iTunes or Spotify [![itunes-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/itunes-logo-black.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-momcast/id1362352357)[![spotify-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/spotify-logo-black.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/15CoipHL7z61IDcYErV0b8?si=hqaQJSxDQgq7S1hxCwsoxQ) ##### CatholicMom on Social Networks [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) ##### About Catholic Mom [Who We Are](https://www.catholicmom.com/about-us) [Contact Us](https://www.catholicmom.com/contact) [Support CatholicMom.com](https://www.catholicmom.com/support-us)   ##### Associated Links [Holy Cross Family Ministries](https://www.hcfm.org/) [Family Rosary](https://www.familyrosary.org/) [Family Theater Productions](https://www.familytheater.org/) [Congregation of the Holy Cross](https://www.holycrossusa.org/) [Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.](https://www.fatherpeyton.org/) [The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life](https://www.peytonfamilyinstitute.org/) ### **Stay connected!** Don’t miss a thing! Sign up to receive our free daily digest email. Copyright © 2026 CatholicMom.com. All Rights Reserved.