soil soothes the soul

landscaping has been a constant in my life since I found the joys of it circa 2011 when I was working for a landscaper. we mostly threw mulch [so lame] but there were a few landscape installs we did that just lit me up. that’s when I finally started to understand why my mom would spend so much time in the yard when I was growing up, because soil soothes the soul.

if you dig, you get what I’m saying.

it’s hard to describe the calming effect landscaping has on me. as much as I love it, and at times crave it, we did a project for Snelly early this summer and I hit my seasonal max for soil. this is my pattern though - complete plant obsession from spring to early summer + then drop it like its hot until next year.

mega act of love

Snelly asked me a year ago to design his front flower beds. the good thing about dragging it out for a year was that I got a lot of ideas + options for his yard. the bad? I had a lot of ideas and options. I’m still figuring out my landscape design style and this was a mega act of love for Snelly to offer up his yard as my canvas. another layer of mega love was Bob blindly supporting the cause the entire way.

it was time. I finalized my decisions on the layout + design. me and Snelly bought the plants + picked an install day. Bob prepped the team by gathering all the tools needed + planning for the ‘what if’ scenarios. we loaded Forrest in the truck + drove to spend the day at Snelly’s.

how wrong I was

here I am thinking this would be a few hour install since we had everything laid out. how wrong I was. after 12 hours of non-stop digging, planting, mulching, running to get more materials and more digging we finally were able to sit down.

I don't realize how much a project has to teach me until it's done and this has been my pattern for years. yet I still go into my projects thinking it’ll just be some quick work and I’ll move on to the next…unchanged. silly Brooke.

overlapping lessons

unknown to me at the time, this project lesson would overlap with the lesson threaded through painting our kitchen cabinets. I was learning how to let go of the ‘leave it for later’ mindset but this time I had two examples demo’ing the lesson in real time.

Bob + Snelly are seemingly automatically programmed to leave nothing for later, I think it’s their capricorn energy or maybe their enneagram 3 traits pulling through. whatever the reason they kept us […me] grinding through to finish it fully despite me wanting to leave the things for later.

after a full day of hard work—and having my landscaping cup completely overflowing—something shifted a bit. the exhaustion was real, but so was the deep sense of peace that came with it. the three of us were sitting in the soothing after effects of soil with dirt under our nails, soaking in the satisfaction of the transformation we created.

an added layer

I took note of the extra calm I was experiencing as compared with other landscape projects. a big part of it was because Snelly’s flower beds were finished completely, no detail left undone. not my usual when I play in the dirt. but there was an added layer this time for me.

it wasn't just about the finished flower beds; it was about the connection created by a collective effort, the necessary dualities needed to create a cohesive, effective team and the love expressed in trust as we leaned on each other’s strengths throughout this entire [year long] process.

beautiful kind of calm

Snelly’s landscape project is a physical reminder that the true soothing effect of soil isn't just about the quiet act of digging, but also about the loving effort of building something to share with others. it reminds me that trusting in + respecting other’s differences can grow me to be a better version if I let it. and that finishing a project all the way to the end creates a beautiful kind of calm that spills into other areas of my life.