What Are You Designing In Your Life? | Bend of Ivy | July 2025

slwalters223
Jul 18, 2025
2 min read

Dear Friends,

What's calling to you now, to create in your life and work?Maybe it's to create space, be still and pause. Maybe it's to generate and/ or regenerate. All are needed at different times. Do you want to design, seed, and/or grow something? A new program, retreat, garden, work, relationship or a new beginning? Perhaps many of these are percolating. They are for me.

As Mary Oliver's quote reminds us, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?".

Good self-inquiry question for now. As an experienced coach and professional garden designer, I find nature and people are similar in many ways. As is working with both. I find garden and life work designing, and even event/ program designing, often start with similar design planning questions.

Here's 6 Key questions in designing/ planning (whether for garden, life, work or event hosting):

What experience do you want in/ for your__ (event, garden, life, work)?
What don't you want?
What's your intention for ___?
What needs support, addressing, healing? A basic garden design principle is 'Function before Aesthetics'.
What gives you (and your guests/ participants) joy and contentment? Seed for well-being. Plan and plant it.
What needs to be removed, pruned, changed, or blocked? (aligns with key plant care guidance. Address dying, damaged, or diseased items/ plants/ relationships/ jobs).

Connect, heal, create, reset, and grow. In nature and with nature,🍃

Please reach out with any questions, or to book your event at BOI.

With Love,

Susan 🌱

Intentional Growth/ Bend of Ivy Lodge - Ceo, Steward

Gardens By Design

One of my (Susan's) passions is garden designing. It's also a long time profession. I owned a small garden design business for 15 years in Pittsburgh (ran while getting a Masters in Landscape Studies) years before stepping into stewarding and co-owning Bend of Ivy Lodge.As a professional garden designer, I coach clients to pause, observe, and sense into their landscape, their home surroundings. To observe their exterior (outside) views, perspectives, experiences and desired intentions. And to observe their inner (inside home/self) experiences.

These connect to create a better design, outcome.

Take time, pause and observe your inside and outside spaces.

Then ask yourself:

What do you see and experience with views, spaces?
What's enjoyable? What feels triggering or unappealing?
What do you feel needs removing, pruning, screening, boundaries, or nurturing?
Do you want added for play, fun, creativity, or renewal to your garden/ life?

Below are some popular BOI garden areas, plant favorites or elements.

Gardens & Designing Gallery

For garden and stewarding ideas, check out my (Susan) Intentional Growth Gardens & Designing Gallery. The gallery includes images of garden designs, elements, and diverse plant choices.