How To Start A Green Witch’s Garden

Gardening is where the practical and magickal meet for the green witch. Creating our witch’s garden is as much about creating a sanctuary that feeds our soul as it is about growing our own vegetables, flowers, and herbs.

In this post, we’ll explore the practical things that help you create your perfect garden. We’ll look at the garden path of the green witch along with practical areas like planning, choosing plants, design and layout, caring for your garden, and even tips for harvest time.

Plus, there’s a garden meditation for the more magickal side of keeping a garden.

Ready? Let’s get started.

The Garden Path of the Green Witch

Gardening is something that most witches just feel drawn to.

Celebrating all aspects of nature is central to the practices of the green witch. This is owing to roots that draw from ancient pagan traditions that held all of nature as sacred.

Most of today’s witches take inspiration from Celtic, Native American, and other belief systems from around that world that focus on living in harmony with nature.

We are guardians and caretakers of the Earth. We value sustainable practices and are mindful of the impact we have on the environment through the choices we make.

We honor every living being and live aligned to nature’s rhythms and cycles, honoring the changing seasons through rituals that mark each point on the Wheel of the Year. We have deep reverence for all the natural world and know that we are a part of it, not apart from it.

Working with plants for healing, building our home apothecary, spellwork or creating a little meal magick is a way of life for many of us.

So next, we’ll look at planning your witch’s garden.

Planning Your Witch’s Garden

There are a few things to consider as you create your witchy garden space.

One is location.

Choose a sunny spot that gets many hours of sunlight throughout the day. Most plants will need full sun to thrive.

Of course, you’ll want to also make sure that the location feels right. If something feels off about the site, choose another sunny spot instead, since not only are you creating somewhere to grow things, but you’re also creating a sacred space.

You can go with a simple square garden plot or create a more intricate design like a knot garden.

What you choose depends on your needs, how much time and effort you want to put into it and the space you have available to work with.

Once you have decided on a location, then it’s time to choose which plants you’ll grow.

plants in containers shown next to a lantern decoration in a witch's garden — What plants will you choose for your witch’s garden?

Choosing Plants for Your Green Witch’s Garden

Choosing your plants is the fun part, I think.

You might choose a variety of vegetables so you’ll have fresh in-season produce with extras to freeze or can for the winter months.

Or go with all herbs, selecting those either medicinal, culinary or magickal properties that you want to work with.

I like to grow a variety of plants, many with both magickal and practical uses.

Tip: If your garden space will expand into your entire yard, you might even want to add trees or bushes to your garden plan.

Here’s some inspiration to get you started:

Lavender for relaxation
Rosemary for protection
Sage for Purification
Roses for love
Edible flowers like Nasturtium for your summer salads.
Tomatoes – who doesn’t love a fresh vine-ripened tomato?
Squashes of every kind are versatile and yummy too.

What will you choose to grow in your witch’s garden?

Design & Layout for Your Witch’s Garden

Above I mentioned that you might go with a simple square garden plot or create something a bit more elaborate like knot garden.

Here, we’ll look at a few more things to consider as you plan your perfect witch’s garden space.

Do you want an altar space?
Will you do rituals in your garden?
Would you like a place to sit for meditation or just enjoying your garden?
Will you want to include other elements like water or statues?

Being intentional in what you decide to put in your garden and how you place everything can give you a feeling of flow, making your space feel even more magickal.

Tip: Take some measurements, get a piece of grid paper and sketch out your ideas to see how everything flows together. This can be very helpful in deciding your final plan.

snail shown in a witch's garden — Caring for your witch’s garden is part of the joy.

Garden Care & Harvesting

Once you’ve gotten everything planned and planted, then it’s time to switch your focus to caring for your garden.

Here’s two things that will help you.

Go with Organic Gardening

You don’t have to be an expert in all organic gardening practices to begin tapping into them.

Begin with avoiding all synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

Choose natural options like compost and companion planting instead. This helps keep your garden soil healthy and your plants thriving. Of course, it’s also eco-friendly and healthier for you too.

Harvesting Your Plants

Harvesting is something you’ll be doing all season long as vegetables ripen, flowers bloom and herbs are ready for use in the kitchen or for drying.

Harvesting is something I do with intention to honor the plants for the contribution they make to my life.

There are different ways to harvest with intention and you should pick those that feel right for you.

Here’s some inspiration so you can begin creating your own ways.

Know how you’ll use each plant you harvest.
If you have a specific magickal intention, you might wish to harvest during the moon phase that supports your intention.
Ask permission of the plant before you harvest it.
Leave an offering to express your gratitude for what you’re taking.

Want to start your own home apothecary to go along with your witch’s garden? Then, check out this post.

Connecting to Nature in Your Garden

Your witch’s garden provides more than just a spot to grow plants. This is also a sacred space that you can use to connect with nature in a deep way.

Here’s two ways to do that:

1. Meditation & Reflection

Your garden provides a serene sanctuary away from the rest of the world. The sounds, scents and sights of it create a calming space for the mind, making it the perfect place to practice meditation or reflection.

You might just sit quietly taking in the beauty around you or do a breathing exercise to let stress and worries flow away. Let your garden bring you fully into the present moment. Open yourself to the healing energies and ancient wisdom of the natural world.

2. Use Your Garden Ritual Space to Deepen Your Connections

Honoring each of the four seasons is a perfect activity to do from your garden space. Let the natural world inspire your celebrations. From spring growth to winter’s rest, your garden will be your personal window into the energies of the natural world. In this sacred spot you can deepen your connection to nature through ritual, contemplation and observation.

How many ways can you think of to use your witch’s garden? Grab a journal and write down your ideas. Then you can begin adding things to your plan or your ritual ideas.

Here’s a garden inspired meditation to try:

Poets and philosophers often compare the mind to a garden. In keeping with this notion, you can use this meditation to cultivate positive thoughts for positive outcomes. This is more of an active meditation rather than a seated, quiet one. Grab your journal and a lovely cup of herb tea and enjoy the process as you contemplate the seeds you want to plant and what you’ve “grown” in the past.

Meditation – Planting Seeds as Inspiration

Focus on outcomes. We all want better results, but we have to start by putting the right things into place. Imagine you’re planting seeds for a loving relationship or career success just like you’d plant seeds for daisies.
What’s the relationship between cause and effect? Review your life for pleasant and unpleasant experiences. How did your actions contribute to what you experienced? What were your reactions to it?
Choose one example. Focus on a time when your efforts paid off. Maybe you helped your kid get better grades or you did something kind for a lonely neighbor.
Focus on that feeling. Enjoy this delight and gratification of knowing you did something to brighten someone’s day. This helps you be convinced that your actions matter.

Now, how can you do it daily?

Hold on to that inspiration and put together a practical way for creating better outcomes. What seeds do you want to plant to get there?

(And you thought it was just a garden for growing plants? No, it also grows inspiration.)

Summary of Starting Your Witch’s Garden

Creating your garden space is a deeply personal activity since you’ll decide how you’re going to use it and what you’ll grow. Don’t be afraid to try new things.

If you don’t get it quite right the first time, give it another go. There’s always so much to learn, so bring your beginner’s mind and the wonder and curiosity of a child to your project.

Even if you think you don’t have a “green thumb”, I promise you that with a little time, patience and perseverance, you will get there and have the perfect-for-you witch’s garden.

Need a way to get organized or maybe a bit more inspiration? Check out the Garden Planner or the Magickal Gardening for the Green Witch printables.

Enjoy!

Blessed be.

Karen

Karen believes in making a little magick every day. She's a green witch, eclectic pagan, Certified Moonologer ™, Reiki Master/Teacher, animist, shamanic practitioner, ordained minister, equestrian, mom to a human daughter and many animals including cats, horses, chickens and dogs. When she’s not working, you’ll find her enjoying the outdoors, spending time with her family, friends and horses, gardening or reading a good book.